Tale of a Princess Grand
by bucca2
Summary: The legend of how alicorns, crystal ponies, and changelings came to be, and most importantly of all-the untold story of Princess Celestia, growing up a princess, and struggling with matters like the first ever Changeling attack, King Sombra's takeover of the Crystal Empire, a love affair with Discord, and the terrible night when she had to banish her own sister, Luna, to the moon.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Hi guys,**

**Chapter 32 probably won't be what you expected and you may not like it, but I really need you guys to read it. Thanks so much for reading my god-awful work :)**

In the beginning, there were only unicorns that controlled the sun and the moon.

The new land of Equestria was just founded, and the leaders of the three races: earth, pegasus and unicorn were only just recently allies, united by the now-famous phenomenon of the Windigoes and the new holiday created to celebrate it: Hearth's Warming Eve.

But there was a problem. Princess Platinum was becoming weak, for she alone could raise and lower the sun, while her citizens were becoming weary of raising and lowering the moon each night. Knowing that she wouldn't survive to produce an heir, she quickly called her second-in-command, Clover the Clever, to gather the other two leaders and their second-in-commands: Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy of the pegasi, Chancellor Puddinghead and Smart Cookie of the earth ponies.

Princess Platinum had seen a vision of a ritual that would bring about a new race of pony: a combination of earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn alike, a royal family to raise the sun and moon and take care of the citizens of Equestria, to rule over them fairly and equally.

She had also seen something else, that she did not tell anybody else: If Equestria were to continue on having three separate governments, then the races would never come together and become one, and there would still be separation. A race that would have something in common with all the races: strength, wings, and a horn.

The six ponies agreed to go forth and sacrifice themselves for the good of Equestria. So they went on a long journey to the Crystal Caves, far away in the cold snowy North. The six ponies made it, of course, but Princess Platinum collapsed once entering the cave, she was so weak.

Alarmed, the other leaders and second-in-commands turned to Clover the Clever, who had them carry the unconscious Princess Platinum to a luminous light at the back of the cave.

It was coming from a pool of shining milky white water, shimmering and throwing patterns of light onto the ceiling. A cracked, dull white gemstone lay in the front of the pool that seemed to rise out of the ground.

Clover the Clever began to panic slightly, for she did not know what to do. So she dipped her hooves into the pool and a vision filled her eyes, showing her what needed to be done. All three rulers and three second-in-commands needed to dip their hooves in the pool at once, and the Gem of Light at the front of the pool would repair itself and release the otherworldly beings that would be the beginning of a new race of rulers.

With some help from the other rulers, Clover the Clever managed to rouse poor Princess Platinum enough so all six ponies could dip their hooves into the pool.

A light filled the cave, a light that could be seen all the way in Equestria, healing the broken Gem of Light and breaking the rulers and second-in-commands into fragments of divine matter-and suddenly four alicorns lay sleeping in the pool.

There was Queen Galaxiana Amare Vana, with her beautiful white coat and orange mane and tail fading into a dark lavender that glittered with thousands of microscopic stars.

Then there was King Cosmopoliattan, torn straight out of the night, a stallion of dark blue-purple all over with wings covered in constellations.

There was Queen Emeralda Truella Vare, a beauty like no other, a crystalline queen of sparkling beauty with her emerald-green coat and pearly white mane and tail, with eyes of playful magenta.

And last but not least, there was Queen Thoraxia Silverwing, a breathtaking mare with a black coat and green mane and tail.

When the four awoke, they knew it was the duty of two of them to rule Equestria. But why were there four of them?

"Obviously I am to be the queen of Equestria, along with Cosmopoliattan," said Queen Thoraxia slyly.

But King Cosmopoliattan and Queen Emeralda Truella agreed that it should be humble but powerful Queen Galaxiana who should rule with King Cosmopoliattan. Queen Emeralda Truella had become fond of the crystals and the coldness of the North, and wished to establish another new kind of pony: the Crystal ponies, for she was different than her fellow royals in her crystalline appearance and could not imagine a life with Cosmopoliattan.

Queen Thoraxia was furious when Queen Galaxiana became the Equestrian queen instead of her, and the hate and rage in her heart turned her into a being not quite pony anymore: a Changeling, able to take on the appearance of a loved one and feed on love that a Changeling heart cannot provide, for nopony can survive without love.

As Queen Galaxiana and King Cosmopoliattan went south to Equestria and Queen Emeralda Truella began to establish her crystal kingdom, Queen Thoraxia retreated to the Hollow Mountains of the East, as the Mountains of the West were inhabited by dragons. There she secretly raised her civilization of Changelings like her, and began to create an army to lay siege to what she thought was rightfully hers.

After Queen Emeralda Truella had created the country soon to be known as the Crystal Empire, she asked Queen Galaxiana and King Cosmopoliattan if she could settle her land with some of their subjects, and, with royal agreement, happy volunteers were sent to the Crystal Empire to become beautiful Crystal Ponies.

Queen Emeralda's heart, however, had been taken by a ruby-red stallion by the name of Rubeus, and so she made him her king and they had a daughter-the princess of the Crystal Empire. She had a voice that made the birds stop and listen, and she played instruments so well that when she got her cutie mark, Queen Emeralda's Crystal Heart cutie mark with a music staff, nobody was surprised. Soon she fell in love with a stallion named Quillius, and they were married with a grand celebration.

Meanwhile, in Equestria, King Cosmo and Queen Galaxia were married, and had a filly they named Celestine Splendor Solis, a beautiful pink-maned filly with a pure white coat, destined to be the princess of the sun. Or Celestia, as she was known to everybody in Equestria.

A quarter of a century later King Cosmo and Queen Galaxia had another daughter, a beautiful dark blue filly with a violet mane that they named Lunaris Fulgeret et Lunam, or Luna for short. Queen Galaxia taught Celestia to raise and lower the sun, and King Cosmo taught Luna to raise and lower the moon. Then, King Cosmo taught Celestia to also raise and lower the moon, should her younger sister ever fall afoul of some sinister force and be unable to do her duty.

And so begins the tale of Princess Celestia.

**BTW, No, I did NOT get the Crystal Empire stuff wrong. (MLP FiM spoilers ahead, if you haven't already seen "The Crystal Empire" parts 1 and 2, do not read on!) Remember Cadence _is_ the heir to the Crystal Empire, but she IS YOUNGER THAN CELESTIA AND LUNA, so I didn't mention her 'cause she isn't born yet in this timeline. She is the daughter of Quillius and Amaris, King Rubeus and Queen Emeralda's daughter, the one whose voice makes birds stop and listen? Yeah? Just wanted to clear that up. (BTW I know about the book about Cadence's origin story, so bear with me.)**


	2. Chapter 2

"Tia, Tia, T-T-T-T-Ti, ya!" sang Luna as she paraded down the hall towards her big sister Celestia's room.

"Urrggh," was Celestia's reply. Luna giggled. "C'mon, sleepy pants, get up! It's nearly time for the sun to rise!"

"Isn't Mom-oh no!" Celestia cried. Today was her turn to raise the sun, for real this time! Luna had already done last night's moon, much to her excitement.

Bolting upright, Celestia brushed out her pink mane and tail while dipping a washcloth in a basin of warm lemon water and wiping her face with it.

"Gah! Stupid...smudgy...mascara!" Luna watched as her sister fumbled with her black Elizabeth Hayden mascara tube.

"Just unscrew...no, the _other way_, Tia...yeah, that's right! Here, lemme hold it for you...no, don't! You'll spill...! Okay, that's fine. I'll get somebody to mop it up-oh don't, Tia, your mascara will run...see, now it's! Okay, good. You can just get a new tube!" Luna reassured Celestia.

"N-no, it's okay, I can s-still pick it u-up," said Celestia, trying to use magic to pick up the pool of dark liquid on the floor and failing. Her eyes brimmed with more tears, but she held them back.

"It's OK, big sis," Luna reassured her, pulling a bell by her sister's room's door. "We'll just let the janitors take care of it. But c'mon! You have to get to the Celestial Balcony!"

There were two balconies next to each other on the side of Canterlot Castle, the Celestial Balcony, where Queen Galaxia would raise and lower the sun, and the Lunar Balcony, where King Cosmos would raise and lower the moon. It was on the Celestial Balcony that Celestia had to raise the sun _for real_ for maybe the first time in her young 2000-year-old life, maybe 16 in a normal citizen's life.

After slipping on Celestia's hoof crowns, royal choker, and tiara, the two galloped through the hallways, dodging guards and maids with "Whoops" and "Sorry"s, making their way towards the other end of the castle-their parents' throne room, and behind it, the balconies.

Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos looked a little sour when their daughters entered the throne room.

"Sorry, I, woke, up, late," Celestia panted. "Then, my, mascara-"

"Well then, you're here now, daugher," said Queen Galaxia, cutting Celestia off. She gestured towards the Celestial Balcony. "Go on, now."

Luna gave Celestia a small smile as Celestia slowly trotted to the Celestial Balcony.

Taking a deep breath, Celestia focused all her concentration into casting The Spell, an endeavor that would require most of her strength, if not all of it. The Spell was even more complicated than raising the moon, which she'd already done once or twice when she was Luna's age. For the sun was even more powerful and frightening than the calm and serene moon.

"Urgh...agh..." Celestia struggled with the effort of casting the spell, tossing her head back and forth like she was the south end of a magnet coming up against the south end of another. The other "fake" suns her mother had created for her to practice on were nothing compared to the real-life sun, the gargantuan ball of flame that she had to raise everyday for thousands of years to come. The possibility that she wouldn't be able to do it scared her, and gave her just enough strength to finish the job.

There it was, the bright yellow sun in a dawn-streaked sky, lovely and radiant, and Celestia was proud of herself. Then suddenly...the sun extinguished itself, and everything went black.

"Tia? Tia, that was awesome! Tia?" came somepony's voice. But Celestia was underwater.

Or at least, it _seemed_ like she was underwater. She was in a peaceful, sea-green space, with pinpricks of beautiful white light surrounding her. She wasn't flapping her wings, but she her hooves weren't on solid ground. Not that there was any solid ground around to speak of.

She began to float gently down, and she panicked, flapping her wings to try and escape the inevitable suck down into the vacuum at the bottom of whatever strange dimension she had entered. But all to no avail, and Celestia prepared herself to enter the void.

Then, miraculously, her hooves touched solid land. Celestia looked down in surprise. A long strip of a thick cluster of those pinpricks of light formed something dense enough to carry her.

_Magic_, Celestia decided, and began walking down the path of stars, looking for the way out of this strange dimension.

All the while, she was listening to somepony's decidedly strange conversation. She determined that the three voices were concerned about somepony and that that somepony was somepony very important.

A young feminine voice said: "Is she okay? Will she wake up?"

An older feminine voice replied: "There shouldn't be a problem...she should wake up once the maid brings those smelling salts."

The young feminine voice again: "You mean the stuff Daddy went off to get?"

The older voice: "Yes. Don't you worry about your sister, Lunaris. She'll be fine. She's a tough one. You of all ponies should know."

The young voice: "I hope so."

The voices faded away and Celestia was left to wonder who the voices were. The older voice had referred to the younger voice as "Lunaris", so maybe that should mean something. But it didn't, not right then, anyway.

The path of stars seemed to go on forever, stretching on into the far distance. Celestia started wondering what this place was and how she'd gotten here.

How did she know her name was Celestia, anyway? Maybe it was Peachy Keen, or something. How was she so sure she was Celestia?

A very grand name it was, too. Celestia. She racked her brains to come up with a meaning for the fancy-sounding word, but to no avail.

Eventually Celestia began to wonder if she'd hear the voices again, and find out what those "smelling salts" were and the identity of the important somepony the two voices had been talking about.

_Had she died?_ The frightening possibility was...well, frightening. It was entirely possible she had died and was listening to random snippets of conversation other ponies were having. Or maybe her own fevered mind was making them up. It must be. Who'd ever heard of anypony named Lunaris, anyway? Or smelling salts? What were those?

She could really use something soft to sit on, she decided. How long was this road, anyway?

Instantly a lovely white chaise with gold edging and two similarly colored throw pillows appeared.

"Oh! Well, this is nice," Celestia said aloud, sitting herself on the chaise to catch her breath.

"I wonder..." Celestia wondered if she thought about caviar, it would appear. Instantly a small gilded side-table with a plate of caviar and a stack of fancy crackers appeared in front of the chaise.

"Hm!" said Celestia. Could she do animals? Maybe a fluffy little white poodle?

"Arf! Arf!" A small curly-haired white lapdog appeared and began to run in circles around the chaise, only narrowly missing the side-table each time.

Celestia giggled and summoned a plate of small meaty dog treats, and the lapdog stopped running in circles to enjoy the meal.

Celestia sighed in happiness and laid back against the throw pillows as she summoned up a hay shake. Ahh, delicious. She tried a bit of caviar, and nearly gagged. Where on _earth_ had she gotten the idea to summon _caviar_?

Then suddenly everything blurred, and Celestia opened her eyes to find that the terrible taste of caviar had melted from her mouth, her hay shake was gone, her enthusiastic little lapdog had vanished, and she was now laying on her bed instead of a fancy white chaise.

"Tia? Tia! You're-wow, you're beautiful," whispered Luna as Celestia came to.

All her memories came flooding back. The voices she'd heard were Luna's and her mother Galaxia's. She now remembered what smelling salts were and that her mother loved caviar, not her.

"Oh, my stars," Celestia said excitedly. "It was amazing: Luna, there was this space, there were so many stars and I could summon a sofa and a little lapdog and caviar-"

Queen Galaxia gasped. "You found your Plane!" she said.

"My what?" Celestia said, instantly confused.

"Your Plane, essentially your sanctuary," Queen Galaxia explained. "When you enter it, you enter into a deep sort of sleep, and you never get tired or hungry or cold in your Plane. You can summon things of your choosing, and bring others into your Plane."

"Really? How? Can I bring Luna?" Celestia said, excited.

Queen Galaxia smiled gently. "You probably couldn't," she said. "You can only bring ponies who have proved themselves worthy to become an alicorn," Queen Galaxia said. "If they weren't born alicorn, of course."

"Oh. What is it, then?" Celestia asked. "What is this Plane?"

"It's your consciousness, a sort of divine alternate dimension all for your use. I have one as well," said Queen Galaxia. "You activated it by using your divine powers for the first real time."

"Ooo! Ooo! Do I get a Plane?" asked Luna eagerly.

"We'll see then, won't we," said Queen Galaxia. But Celestia could tell from her tone of voice that the answer was no.

"Okay," said Luna. "Will my mane get all flowy and change colors like Celestia's?"

"What do you mea-" Celestia glanced at her mane and tail and gasped.

It was all flowy and sparkly, just like her parents' manes and tails, instead of being a soft baby pink, her mane and tail were now striped with darker pink and gold and orange and red. They glittered like a filly had spilled an entire jar of stars the size of craft glitter on her. And most of all...

"Your cutie mark!" gasped Luna. "It's so beautiful!"

Smack-dab and perfectly aligned on both of Celestia's flanks was a lovely orange-gold sun with a yellow center and wavy, vaguely triangle-shaped rays in perfect intervals.

It was Celestia's long-coveted cutie mark.

"Ohmystarsohmystarsohmystarsohmystaaaars," Luna nearly screamed. "Do you know what this means?"

"I don't know, what?" Celestia asked her excited little sister with a smile.

"This means when _I_ get to raise the moon, _I'm_ gonna get a Plane, and a pretty mane and tail, and my cutie mark!" Luna squealed. "Ohmystarsohmystarsohmystars!"

Celestia laughed. "Calm down," she said. "You'll get there eventually. Only one century left," she said. Luna was 1900 years old.

"Ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhh!" Luna began hopping about the room just as King Cosmos burst in and said: "Luna! Your sister needs-" and saw his daughter.

"Do you know what this means?" he said in his deep voice, not unlike his favorite daughter Luna.

"Yes!" Celestia squealed.

"Coronation Day!"


	3. Chapter 3

They came in a very strange way, Sombra and Discord. And nobody could have guessed that the draconequus and the shy, reserved stallion would become anything more than...well...the embodiment of chaos and an evil overlord. But forget that now and let's visit the princesses.

It was not very long after Luna's 2000th birthday and first moon rising (I have to do the stars, too?!) that two very strange visitors to Canterlot Castle arrived.

Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos had just left on a visit to the Crystal Empire a couple days ago, and left the management of the sun, moon, and Canterlot Castle to the princesses. The princesses were then free to do whatever they wanted, but for most of the day they had to sit upon the royal thrones and wait for things to happen. Usually nothing did.

Celestia and Luna were playing Concentration on the second day, waiting for something, anything, to happen, when a guard came in and announced the arrival of a draconequus and an earth stallion at the gates.

"Let them in," said Celestia decidedly, despite the guard's description of them looking like "trouble makers".

The guard pursed his lips. "As you say, Highness."

Soon a grey-black stallion with limpid strands of pitch-black hair for a mane and tail entered the throne room. He had disturbing maroon-colored eyes that he tacked directly onto Luna with a sort of hungry fascination.

Next to him was the draconequus, a being Celestia had only heard of. He had a long body the color of old blood, strangely, a donkey head, yellow and red eyes, a lion's paw and a rooster's claw, a dragon tail, a green dragon leg, and a pony hoof, not to mention a deer antler and a blue goat's horn.

They both bowed when they were in front of the princesses. The stallion introduced himself as Sombra, with those unnerving dark red eyes of his, and the draconequus, as Discord.

"That's a strange name," Celestia said, thinking of a discord as a lack of musical harmony.

"Yes, well, I suppose I'm lack of harmony personified, being a draconequus and all," said Discord with a faint flush on his cheeks. "I mean, look at me. I'm a goat-donkey-deer-dragon pony."

Celestia blushed as well. "I guess."

A royal mail messenger entered the throne room. "Mail for Your Highnesses," he said gruffly.

"Yes, thank you," Celestia said diplomatically, taking the single letter from him. It was in her mother's flowy script, and she smiled and tucked it away to read later.

"So how can we help you two?" asked Luna, still watching Sombra.

"Er-well, we know it's not proper, to, er, ask royalty for lodgings, but-I'm afraid we have to do it," said Discord awkwardly. "We don't look like a very, er, trustworthy pair, as you can see, so nopony will, er, let us stay for a night or two, but I swear we won't cause any harm. We just need to stay for a couple days."

Luna looked imploringly at her sister. "Just a couple of days, Celestia?" she said in a very formal voice.

"Erm-of course, sister. Three nights?" Celestia asked.

"That should be enough," said Sombra in a rumbly voice.

"Er, yes." Discord said.

"Well, then, we'll have somepony show you to your rooms," Celestia said.

"Thank you ever so much, Your Highness," said Discord effusively.

"Thank you, Your Highness," rumbled Sombra, looking for the first time at Celestia.

A maid came by and escorted Discord and Sombra to their rooms, while Luna and Celestia were left to discuss this odd pair.

"They must be very brave, to come and ask for lodgings at Canterlot Castle," said Luna.

"Well, I don't think the draconequus is very familiar with Equestrian society," said Celestia. "Discord, right?"

"Yes, but what about that stallion Sombra?" Luna asked. "Shouldn't he know?"

Celestia shrugged. "Maybe they're not as good friends as we were led to believe, so Sombra would have just come riding in on Discord's brave coattails."

Luna threw her sister a doubtful look. "Do you really think so?"

"It's a possibility."

Luna shrugged. "Okay, then."

That night Luna went to check on Sombra and Celestia went to Discord's room.

"Oh! Your-your Highness," said Discord with surprise when he opened the door. "What a, er, pleasant surprise?"

Celestia smiled. "I just wanted to check on you, make sure your lodgings are to your liking," she said.

"They're perfect, Your Highness," Discord. "If they were anything but I wouldn't be in any position to say so, however." Discord gave a nervous chuckle.

Celestia giggled. Discord made her feel strange, all light-headed and airy, like she'd never felt before. What was this witchery? Why a strange draconequus, of all things?

Celestia spent nearly an hour with Discord, just kind of getting to know her guest. She made her giggle. A lot. And most of what he said wasn't even all that funny. She just wanted to make him smile in that shy way of his whenever she laughed at his jokes.

Soon it was nearly time for Luna to raise the moon, so Celestia knocked on Sombra's door. "Luna? It's nearly time for sunset."

Luna opened the door and came out, giggling madly and promising Sombra to stop by his room whenever she could. Finally she gently shut his door and the two sisters began walking to the balconies.

"You seem enamored with your guest," Celestia smirked. Luna's face took on a dreamy quality, ignoring Celestia's jest.

"You wouldn't know it, Tia, but he's so funny and smart! He goes to UM, you know, he's, like, the only earth pony there!" Luna said, still a little giggly. "I'm so glad we let them stay."

"Me too," Celestia told her, thinking about Discord.

"How did your visit with Discord go, by the way?" said Luna, catching Celestia off guard so much that she blushed. Luna gasped, understand lighting up her face in a joyful smirk.

"You have a crush on Discord!" she exclaimed.

"Don't be silly, Luna," Celestia snapped, embarrassed. "I've known him for hardly more than an hour."

"Love at true sight is a thing, you know," Luna said.

"Oh, I could tell by the look on your face when you left Sombra's room." It was Celestia's turn to smirk now, and Luna's to blush.

"He's-he's nice," she said, and that was it.

The next day was pure bliss. At the end of the day Celestia could safely say that she and Discord were tentative friends.

It made her ridiculously happy.

But the next day Sombra and Discord had to leave, because the king and queen were returning the next day and would not take too kindly to the unwanted visitors. So it was with many fond farewells that the princesses bid the travelers goodbye.

"I'm really going to miss him," said Luna after the travelers had gone their different ways and off into the horizon.

"Discord? Yeah," Celestia said.

"No, Sombra. I may never have a male friend like him again," said Luna.

"I know what you mean," Celestia said.

The next day she greeted her parents cheerfully, but secretly wished that they would have stayed away forever, so Discord could have stayed.


	4. Chapter 4

"Daughter. A member of the royal guard says you let two travelers stay in the castle while we were gone," Queen Galaxia said to Celestia not very long after Discord and Sombra stayed over.

"Oh, did he?" said Celestia casually, as her body froze and her blood boiled. That treacherous guard! Revealing Luna and her secret as if he had a right!

"He did," said Queen Galaxia. She took a deep breath.

"I was once like you, as well," she said, surprising Celestia, who had been expecting a scolding and another lecture about her duties as royalty.

"What? What do you mean?" she asked.

"I was in love once, as well," she said.

"Wha-? I wouldn't fall in love with a stranger!" Celestia protested.

"I am warning you to guard your heart, daughter. And your sister's as well. There are many who would take advantage of royalty," Queen Galaxiana said.

"I wouldn't fall in love with a stranger!" Celestia protested. "What gave you any inkling that I would have any chance of falling in love with the strangers?"

"The guard voiced his concerns about the appropriateness of the goodbye," Queen Galaxiana said. "He thought it too...friendly, for strangers." She herself looked doubtful about the accuracy of the guard's so-called "concern".

"And you trust this guard? Mother, that guard had no right prying into our business. Was it a crime befriending a stallion and a draconequus who had come to seek lodging?" Celestia was starting to lose her cool. "We did nothing but talk with them!"

"I trust you, daughter, and Luna. I just wanted to warn you. Luna especially."

"I suppose it's because she's younger, so she needs a better warning," Celestia grumbled.

"No, because Trottimus is likely to fancy her," said Queen Galaxia.

"What? Who is Trottimus?"

"He's the guard who announced the draconequus and the stallion's arrival, or so he told me. He was also stationed at the entrance when you and Luna said goodbye to the guests. Trottimus was probably madly jealous that a strange stallion who, in his opinion, didn't even know Luna, got a hug from Luna while he, a guard who probably knew Luna much better, had hardly gotten a second glance."

"Well, that's silly. He should know that he's got no chance."

"Love is strange like that. Under the circumstances, when I was essentially forced to marry your father, I still fell madly in love with him anyway. Not many mares would do the same, if they had to do such a thing. Don't you think?"

"Yes, Mother, but you're not 'many mares'. You're special," Celestia said fondly. Queen Galaxia kissed her daughter on the forehead, right by her horn.

"You'll make a fine queen one day," she said.

"I don't know. Maybe I'll have everypony call me Princess. I've gotten so used to it," Celestia mused. "Okay, well, I'll tell Luna about Trottimus and everything."

"Good." Queen Galaxia winked and headed for her quarters.

It was only then that Celestia realized that her mother had said she had been in love "once". Did that mean she fell in love with King Cosmos, then fell out of love? Or had there been another stallion? Unlikely, because King Cosmos was her destined husband from the moment she, King Cosmos, and two other alicorns had appeared in the pool in the Crystal Cave, by the Crystal Empire. Celestia had heard the legend so many times over.

"Lu-u-na," Celestia sang as she approached Luna's door. "Our wonderful lovely mother has a message for us!"

Quickly there was a rustling of papers and hushed voices...more than one?! Celestia pressed her ear to the door and heard: "Quickly, hide!"

Suddenly the door opened and it was all Celestia could do to keep from falling flat on her face.

"Tia? Where's Mother?" said Luna, looking about with quick whirls of her head.

"She isn't here," Celestia replied casually. "She told me to tell you-"

"Come in! Hurry!" Luna grabbed Celestia into her room and firmly shut the door. Celestia noticed that one of Luna's big windows were wide open and a breeze was blowing in.

"What did Mother have to say?" Luna asked, gesturing for her sister to sit down.

Luna's room was the incarnation of the night sky. Her walls were a light magenta draped with long swooping swatches of sparkly dark blue silk layered over darkish violet swatches over metallic silver ones in loose oval shapes with the tops of the ovals appearing to be cut off.

A lovely starburst-shaped rug sewn with Luna's pick of stars (Lunar royals had to do the stars, as well) lay at the foot of the canopy bed, draped with soft down feather pillows in violet and blue throw pillows with rows of small balls of blue wool and long swaths of shimmery blue and violet silks that could go over heavy dark blue velvet curtains that were mainly for privacy. The frames, headboard, and footboard of the bed were all white wood.

At the other end of the room was a large bay window in diamond style, with each of the diamonds a different shade of blue. It was the same design repeated three times over, of course, but rearranged. Next to the window was Luna's blue dressing table with brushes and little crystal bottles of perfume scattered all over the top. The doors to her walk-in closet stood by the door, shut firmly.

"Who was in your room with you just now?" Celestia asked, suspicious.

"Nopony," Luna said nonchalantly.

"Okay, well, she knows about Sombra and Discord."

Luna gasped. "Oh, no!"

"It's okay, she's not really mad about it," Celestia reassured. "I don't think Father knows."

Luna sighed in relief. "Okay, that's good at least."

"She just wanted you to know, though, about the guard that ratted us out? His name's Trottimus, and she seems to think he's fallen for you."

"Seriously?" Luna snorted. "Does he think I'd still accept him even after he's told on us? Anyways, he's only a lowly guard, so he's got no chance."

"Don't be so harsh on him. You'll never see Sombra again, anyway, and he was probably your only real male interaction," Celestia said, her mind already drifting off towards Discord.

"No, I'll probably see Sombra-" A sound of something crashing against Luna's closet door stopped her sentence, and Luna looked fleetingly frightened for a split second before recovering and going: "I really need to clean my closet, don't I?" and giggled in a nervous sort of way.

"Definitely. I'll help you," Celestia said. "You're going to hit your head while searching for a dress in there one day, Luna. A hatbox is going to fall off a high shelf and knock you dizzy. In fact, let's get it organized now," Celestia said aimlessly, concerned about her sister. The sound of a pile of clothes shifting around on the floor came from the closet.

"No! No, it's okay, I'll just get a maid in here later," said Luna hurriedly as Celestia moved towards the closet doors. Celestia stopped.

"Okay, if you're sure you're going to do it," she said doubtfully, reaching for Luna's room's door.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure," said Luna, essentially herding her sister towards the door. "I'll do that."

A creaking sound and a "Damn!" came from the closet and startled Celestia. Luna winced.

"Is there somepony in your closet?" Celestia asked, surprised. She quickly strode over to the closet doors and threw them open-

and Sombra fell out of it!

"S-sombra?" Celestia turned to Luna. "Luna, why is he here?"

Luna put on a surprised face. "Sombra? What are you doing here?!" Her sister glared at her.

"Stop pretending, Luna. You've been hiding Sombra in your closet? For how long?"

Luna winced again. "Not very long! When I came back to my room I found him stumbling in through the open window, and then you came and I made him get in, I just wanted to talk to him! I missed him already," she said, mumbling at the end.

Celestia softened. "Okay, that's better. But...Luna, can I talk to you?" She glanced at Sombra. "In private?"

"Er-I'll just, uh, go back out the way I came," Sombra said, blushing madly. As soon as the tip of his tail was out the window, Celestia glared at Luna.

"Why did he come back? And why in Equestria did you let him in?" Celestia demanded. Luna cowered a little.

"I told you, I missed him! At first I thought I was hallucinating, but it was really him, and I was so surprised that I didn't make him leave and then you came and he went into the closet," Luna said, adding quietly, "He's the only one who understands me."

"Really?! You didn't think of the repercussions if, say, Trottimus came by to check on you and saw the intruder? Or if Father came by? I'd tell you what would happen. You'd be in deep, deep trouble and Sombra'd be imprisoned! Don't you ever think, Luna?" Then Celestia realized what she'd just said.

"You don't think I understand you?" she said softly, hurt.

"I-" Before Luna could finish, Celestia turned and left her room, slamming the doors behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

"I don't get it! What is her problem? What, she doesn't trust me? Did she think I'd rat her out to a guard or something? We're sisters, and since everypony respects royalty too much and we'd lose them quickly anyway, we can't make any other friends. We only have each other!" Celestia fumed, pacing about her room.

"That's completely right! I mean, sisters should trust each other, right?" Discord said, perching precariously on Celestia's window.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't seem she trusts me. And you know what? I don't trust her either. Get out, Discord."

"What?" Discord looked shocked. "You're blaming me for this?"

"No, because I think I hear hoofsteps in the hallway," Celestia said with sudden urgency.

"Oh right." Discord dove out of the window just as a knock came from the door.

"Tia?" Knock knock. "Tia." Knock knock. "Tia?" Knock knock. "Tia."

"Oh dungbarrels," Celestia muttered under her breath. "Hold up," she whispered to an escaping Discord. "I'm coming, too."

"Tia? Tia. Tia? Tia." came from the door as Celestia quietly shut the window on the note she'd hastily scrawled. By the time Luna let herself in, she and Discord were long gone.

Luna-

If you came to apologize this is your chance to make things right. Cover for me, 'kay? I'll be back in an hour.

-Tia

PS If you really need to find me, look for a mare called Firebolt. Don't tell Mom or Dad!

"Ha ha ha haaa!" whooped Celestia as she and Discord glided across the sky. "This is amazing!" she shouted.

Discord grinned. "You've never been out of the palace, princess?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't call me that. And I can leave the palace anytime I want, it's just that I usually don't fly because it's too tiring."

"Yeah, well, you are a princess," Discord said. "Dainty dainty Celestia." He smirked at her.

"Don't call me Celestia either." Celestia had cast a cloaking spell on herself and now looked like a mare with a white coat, bright orange eyes, and an orange-and-red mane and tail, whose cutie mark was a gold-orange lightning bolt with a lovely red and orange hibiscus flower at the top and little flame-like accents.

"My name is Firebolt," Celestia said. "Please just call me that in public. If you start calling me Celestia people will start wondering what's going on."

"Whatever you say, princess. Can I please just call you princess anyway? It's awkward and people won't think anything of it," Discord begged.

"Do what you like," Celestia said. "Just don't bust my cover."

"Wouldn't dream of it, puh-rin-cess," Discord smirked.

Celestia sighed. "I snuck out with you to have fun. This, so far, isn't worth the risk."

"Oh, don't worry 'bout that. But first, let's go to Joe's Coffee Shop." So I followed Discord, still loving the feeling of flying and missing it while we landed in front of Joe's.

Sipping his iced coffee, Discord went: "Well then, Princess, you've snuck out with me and managed to make one of my admirers jealous, but frankly I don't know the most basic things about you. Like, maybe...your favorite flavor of cake? Or your favorite color? Or..."

"My favorite flavor of cake?" Celestia asked, surprised. "Well, my favorite color's always been green, I suppose. A deep, beautiful emerald green. And...cake? I guess...uh...devil's food, I suppose."

"Ah! Devil's food, you say? That's my personal favorite as well." Discord grinned. "Anything else I should know about you, puh-rin-cess?"

"Don't say it like that," Celestia replied. "That's really grating on my nerves."

"Well how else should I say it, puh-rin-cess?" Discord rolled his eyes as he chomped down on his second donut.

"Normally. Hey, Discord, this was fun, but...I should really get back."

"It's been all of ten minutes! Jeez, I'm sorry for calling you princess, Firebolt. Now are you going to stay?"

"No. I really need to get back, because in five seconds that guard's going to realize that you're the draconequus his friend just told him about that kidnapped the princess!"

Okay. Hit pause, you say? Sure. How did Celestia know all that?

Well, it's really a sworn alicorn secret, but I'm narrating this story, so who cares if I tell you? Besides, you're not going to tell anypony, are you?

Alicorns are born with a special sense that tells them when anypony nearby them (I'd say a maybe five or seven hoof radius, give or take) is talking or thinking about them. Using this sense Celestia was able to hear the guard thinking: "That draconequus must know something about the princess".

Hit play.

"Back door, Joe'll let us out," Discord whispered out of the corner of his mouth, not looking at the guards. "Now laugh like I said something funny."

Celestia laughed suddenly, startling Discord, but he managed to mask it quite well. He smiled, stood up, and offered me a claw. I took it, and together we walked-casually-to where Joe was wiping down his countertop.

"Hey Joe? Do you think you could do us a favor?"


	6. Chapter 6

Celestia panted as she waved goodbye to Discord, who didn't wave back because he was too busy dodging behind turrets so the guards wouldn't spot him. Even though it broke her heart a little, she understood why he had to do it.

Uncasting her cloaking spell, Celestia waved to draw the guards' attention away from Discord's flickering movements. "Guards? Is there a problem?"

"Oh, uh, princess?" one of the guards called as they looked up. They looked so surprised Celestia had to keep from bursting into gleeful laughter.

"Yes, it's me, sirs," she said tartly. "I asked, _is there a problem_?"

"Where have you been, princess? Princess Luna said you were out with a friend but we couldn't find you anywhere!" the other guard called. I recognized him as Trottimus.

"I fell asleep! Did nopony think to check my room?" Celestia said, pretending to look angry. "My sister was misinformed."

"Uh, well, we just acted on her words, princess-" Trottimus said, fidgeting a little.

"Well I'm _fine_, so call off the search!" Celestia yelled, seeing Discord's safely retreating tail-tip retreating into the horizon. She smiled a little.

"But your highness, we spotted a that draconequus in the area and we were told to arrest him," shouted Trottimus.

"Who told you?" Celestia shouted. She'd just about to shut her window, too.

"Er, your sister, the Princess Luna?" Trottimus said awkwardly. His friend elbowed him but he was ignored.

"Well, cancel the order!" And with that Celestia shut the windows.

"Gee, Trottimus, I guess your reputation as a liar and a tattle tale's gonna get you the princess, eh? I've gotta try that sometime," Trottimus's friend grumbled.

"Ah, no, Razor Sharp, _please_ don't-" But it was too late. Razor Sharp had already left him standing, alone, within view of the princess's bedroom windows.

Unfortunately, both curtains were shut firmly.

"Luuuuuna!" singsonged Celestia as she knocked on her sister's door. "Are you iiiin theeeere?"

The door opened and Luna peeked her head out. "Oh. I got your note," Luna said, levitating the piece of still-folded parchment. "I told them you went out with a friend."

"Good call. Say, did you hear about, oh, I don't know, an _arrest warrant_ for a very special draconequus?" Celestia said as she stepped into her sister's room. Luna shrugged.

"I told Trottimus not to spread his lies, but I don't think he heard me. All he said was: 'I'll protect you, princess, and your sister too' and rushed off."

"Sounds like a line the evil sorceress says in _The Wonderful Wizard of Ez_," Luna replied. "'I'll get you, Ponythy, and your little dragon too!'"

"I might get a copy of that," Celestia murmured.

"Oh, you can borrow mine," Luna said, taking a shiny new copy of _The Wonderful Wizard of Ez_ from her bookcase. "I got it signed by L. Frank Bale himself!"

"No thanks, I like reading classics," Celestia said. "I don't really fancy newfangled fantasy stories."

"Hey, you never know, this could become a classic! It's good enough to be," Luna said, flicking through the pages.

"So," she said, eyes still traveling across the lines of text, "who's Firebolt?"

"Uh," Celestia said, choking a little. "Uh, she's, uh, the friend I, er, snuck out with," she said, awkwardly. Luna gave her a look and returned _The Wonderful Wizard of Ez_ to her bookcase.

"Then why'd I see Discord and some white orange- and red-maned pegasus mare flying towards Joe's Coffee Shop?" she asked.

"I don't know," Celestia said, shrugging innocently.

Luna sighed. "I _know_ what your cloak looks like, Celestia. I know you were with Discord. Plus, you two were _flying away from your window_. Excuse me if I assumed the worst."

Celestia huffed. "Fine. I was with Discord. Happy? Are you going to tell Mum or Dad?" she retorted.

"N-no," Luna stuttered. "I'm sorry I said Sombra was the only one who understands me. You understand me too, it's just that you're never really around."

"Never-what are you _saying_?" Celestia shouted. "I'm in the palace 24/7! I'm always around!"

"No! You don't get it! He understands me in a _different_ way, Tia. We've grown up together so your mind is hard-pressed into royal ways of thinking! Sombra's an outsider, who sees things differently, and it's refreshing," Luna said desperately.

"Refreshing. Okay, well, then, I'll leave you to be refreshed," Celestia said, maybe a little colder than she should have.

"Won't you stay, though? I saw this really cute mane style in _Manes Monthly_ that was _perfect_ for you-" Luna said, beginning to babble.

"No thanks," Celestia cut her off. "I'll pass. I've got to lie down for a bit."

**Hey hey hey! I know y'all might be a little confused, so here goes: The Wonderful Wizard of Ez is the Equestrian version of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I just changed it from Oz to Ez because, you know, Equestria, E? I know, it's terrible. Ponythy wasn't my best, either. And L. Frank Bale. Because, you know, horses like hay, and hay comes in bales? Ha ha...not funny.**

**But I tried to make The Wonderful Wizard of Ez seem like a new book, by referring to Luna's copy as a "shiny" one, having L. Frank Bale sign it, and having the sisters talk about it as if it weren't a classic yet. Just to remind you, that this is in the princess's early years. Even though our Wonderful Wizard of Oz isn't thousands of years old. Actually, I don't know whether ponies still read it in Twilight's time-probably not. Read on, faithful...uh...reader!**


	7. Chapter 7

Celestia didn't see Discord after that for a very, very long time-she didn't know what he was doing and it was probably better she didn't.

Luna continued to be plagued with Trottimus's presence, and it became too risky for Sombra to visit. One night Celestia was awoken to the sound of shouting from Luna's room. It sounded like Luna was hanging out the window.

Curious, Celestia tiptoed quietly to the wall her room and Luna's shared and listened in.

"-for example how about your little pet guard? Ever thought of him?" _That voice is Sombra's_, Celestia thought, startled. She knew it would be really terrible of her to breach her sister's privacy, but she simply couldn't help herself. She _had_ to hear why Luna and Sombra were nearly shouting. Because if they did get too loud, guards would swarm the palace to find the intruder, and Sombra would probably get caught.

_How did he get up here, anyway?_ Celestia thought as Luna's angry voice replied.

"Pet guard? You knoweth not what you speak of," Luna said angrily, beginning to use some of the modern slang ponies were using nowadays in her fury. "He is just a highly vexing lovesick puppy. He's of no importance at all, for he's only a lowly guard."

"Oh, I know of some mares who'd hack off their manes just to get the opportunity to get at a 'lowly guard', so you say," came Sombra's jeering voice. He'd gained a lot of confidence, Celestia noted. It certainly showed in his voice and attitude.

"Well, I'm not one of those mares. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get some sleep." Celestia could hear Sombra going: "Wait, wait!" before she heard Luna close the window. Sombra's muffled protest only lasted for less than a minute before he left. Luna yawned loudly and was soon snoring.

Not long after, so was Celestia, whose last thought was that _that_ visit was surely Sombra's last.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

Time passed, and neither princesses ever saw Sombra or Discord again. They both seemed a little down for a couple weeks, but Luna recovered much faster with Trottimus's support. She always kept him at a safe distance, however. "We're only friends," she said when asked about her supposed "affair" with a royal guard.

Celestia went through a lonely period where she became moody and disinterested in everything, often preferring staring out the windows for long periods of time to actually doing anything. Everypony assumed it was just a phase and let her be.

She was really sulking about the unfairness of it all, though. Listening in that night had turned out to be a bad choice for her. She and Discord never got a chance, whilst Luna really had a chance to have Sombra if she really wanted it. Celestia knew she should be happy that her sister got _some_ lasting joy, but then Luna would do something with Trottimus and she'd get all sulky again.

_Why does _Luna _of all ponies get a second chance? And then she doesn't even take it! I know Trottimus is only a guard, but she could do worse! What does she want, for some royal to pop out of the Pool of Light and ask for her hoof in marriage?_

Not that any child of theirs would be worth it. Alicorns came only from either the Pool of Light (which had returned back to its inactive state, as indicated by the Gem of Light once again becoming dull and decidedly unshiny, and a jagged crack down its middle) or from two alicorns mating. Even then, the DNA might soon fade out over a couple of generations. Then again, alicorns could only be killed with powerful magic nopony had, or could ever obtain, so there seemed no reason to panic.

Or so all of Equestria-excepting its rulers-thought. Even the princesses had no idea of the threat to the east-Queen Thorax and her slumbering army.

Slowly she had kidnapped ponies here and there and encased them in a cocoon of green gel. She then cast a powerful spell upon them, painfully transforming them into changelings.

Carefully, carefully, over the thousands of years, Queen Thorax managed to steal ponies and turn them into her minion Changelings. Soon she had no use for kidnapping them except to feed her "children" with the poor victims' love. After that, they were either turned into changelings or, worse, killed.

Over time Queen Thorax no longer left her swarming hive in the Hollow Mountains of the East. She had plenty of minions to do _that_ for her. She even taught a select few elevated-in-rank "officers" the changeling creation spell so she could focus on what really mattered-producing an heir.

Since Queen Thorax was so broken, her heart so wracked with suffering, pain, and hate, she could no longer live for millions of years as her alicorn siblings could. She'd felt herself getting weak, oh-so weak, and selected one of her most upstanding generals to aid her in producing her one and only daughter, the Princess Chrysalis.

As time went on, Queen Thorax instilled hate and darkness into her daughter's heart, successfully ensuring she would never fail in her duties, nor ever even wonder at the moral of what she was doing. For other kingdoms were the enemy, and she must never forget that.

Soon, she began to prepare for the kidnapping of Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos.

Oh, it was no easy feat alright. Originally she'd wanted to create a powerful magical prison to hold the two royals, but then she made something better-Tartarus.

Oh, sure, it contained an unearthly beast inside it called Tirek, but it was withered, too weak to escape its supernatural confines. So Queen Thorax simply..._prepared_ a part of Tartarus for new inhabitants. Sure, she lost a couple dozen minions in the process, but they didn't matter.

And soon, she was ready.


	8. Chapter 8

Afterwards, the princesses didn't even know what happened.

A large amount of Equestrian citizens had been purportedly "acting strange"-and while it probably shouldn't have worried the royals, it did.

They knew about changelings. They knew how they worked. They knew they took on the form of those you love to feed on your love for them.

They alerted the royal guard to these new enemies, but then flushed them out of the palace. They could only guard the perimeter now, and all the windows were draped with black cloth.

The royal family could trust nopony now.

Secretly, secretly, King Cosmos and a group of select other trustworthy ponies built a castle in the Everfree Forest near Ponyville where the royal family could hide out. Queen Galaxia educated the princesses on changelings, to prepare them, and told them where the castle was, ordering them to _never tell anypony else_ or they would all be captured by Queen Thorax.

Luna was scared out of her wits, and began to hole up in her room frequently. Celestia, however, had to step up and be the big sister, a role she didn't entirely embrace. It was a lot of work, frantically learning how to run an entire kingdom before insectoid ponies that fed on love overran the palace. Many nights she got only four or five hours of sleep.

It was harder on the king and queen, however. The King, of course, was busy with building the gray castle in the Everfree Forest. Queen Galaxia often got less sleep that Celestia did, and had a very hard time trying to draw her younger daughter out of her rooms. So she asked Celestia to try.

She tried asking. "Luna? Do you think you could come out for a moment?"

She tried persuasion. "Luna, you should probably come out. It'll be quick, I promise!" She tried bribery. "Luuuna, if you come out you'll find a really amazing surprise waiting for you!"

That almost drew her out, but then Luna asked, "What?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you!"

"Is it...is it S? Has he come back for me?"

"You know we couldn't let him in even if he came back, silly. The cooks have prepared a banquet, with all your favorite foods! Come on out!"

"I'm not hungry right now."

She finally tried anger. "Luna, if you don't come out _this instant_, I'll blast your door open right here and now and drag you out kicking and screaming!"

"I'm halfway draped out the window right now. I could fly away before you even stopped coughing from the dust."

Finally Celestia had to report to her mother that Luna wasn't coming out.

"We have no choice but to seal her windows and see what she does. My daughter, if she never comes out, when Queen Thorax finally attacks she'll be vulnerable!"

So they sealed off Luna's window and tried to draw her out again. When she refused to come out, Queen Galaxia used a handy spell to unlock the door and she barged in, Celestia right behind her.

Luna looked a little shocked, but eventually agreed holing up in her room wasn't the best way to deal with things. Soon the three never went out of each others' sights, and when King Cosmos finally came back from building the castle, everything seemed to relax again. Some guards were allowed to enter the palace again, and were entrusted to warn the royals should Queen Thorax launch her attack.

And then she did.

Nopony, really, knew what happened that day. It seemed as if their friends and family were simply _getting up_ and leaving, heading for Canterlot in swarms. Hijacking trains, pushing shocked commuters aside, and marching in mobs towards the fountain square in front of Canterlot Castle.

They stood there for a while, knocking aside anypony who tried to get through them or talk to them, and waited.

They were there for maybe ten minutes before the sky turned black and green.

The cloudless blue sky was choked and clogged with them. Thousands and thousands of uncloaked changelings, flying from the Hollow Mountains of the East, slowly transforming into the very mirror images of the gaping citizens below them.

And finally, they hovered in wait. Slowly, the crowd of strange beings who could change their appearance at will parted down the middle to reveal the one and only: Queen Galaxia.

At first the ponies were confused. Their queen had orchestrated this? Was it a new holiday? A celebration? Whatever it was, they began to cheer. Halfheartedly at first, then a deafening roar as the queen landed on the steps of the palace and smiled at her citizens.

Unbeknownst to her or her many minions, a white mare with orange eyes, an orange-and-red curly mane, and a similarly colored tail crept out of the back of the palace with a purple-coated mare with a curly tail and mane in a fancy updo in purple and light dusty violet. She had clear dark blue eyes. Her name was Blueberry Lovely, and she was with the one, the only, Firebolt.

They managed to make their way to Ponyville, which felt like a ghost town. Almost all its inhabitants had gone to Canterlot to witness the spectacle.

Tired, hungry, and thirsty, the two mares made their way to a clearing in the Everfree Forest, where Firebolt cast a spell and revealed a large, arched wood door. After the two went into the door, it vanished.

"Whew," Firebolt panted, slowly turning into Celestia. "Oh my stars, I thought we wouldn't make it!"

"I swear this copy of Cleur de Fleur looked at me suspiciously," Blueberry Lovely said as she turned into Luna. Cleur de Fleur was a boutique owner. Her quaint little shop was Celestia's favorite place to go-it seemed like Cleur had every beauty product under the sun. When she was younger, if she wasn't in her room or with Luna, Celestia would be at Clean and Cleur.

Celestia groaned. "Oh, not Cleur!"

"There's no helping them now. There's nothing we can do but wait," Luna sighed, thinking of her father. And her mother-what a shocker Equestria would get when they saw _two_ queens.

And they did-Queen Thorax-as-Galaxia had hardly finished two sentences before the true Queen Galaxia stepped out with King Cosmos at her side and forced Queen Thorax to reveal herself.

"Oh, no, you've caught me," Queen Thorax grinned evilly. "Whatever shall I do?"

"Call off your minions, Thoraxia. You will leave or you will be forced to." Queen Galaxia's voice was hard with anger as she said it.

Queen Thorax threw her head back and laughed, a terrible dry sound. "You and what army? Besides, you'd never win in a 1-on-1 battle against _me_. Even if it was just for a couple of minutes, taking on _your_ form has given me power beyond compare!" She cackled evilly, then looked at King Cosmos with a disgustingly sultry look.

"Join me, Cosmopoliattan, and we will rule Equestria with an iron hoof together! All you have to do is help me vanquish _her_." Queen Thorax nodded at Queen Galaxia.

King Cosmo's lip curled as he said: "I would never join forces with the likes of you, Thoraxia. Go back where you came from, beast."

Queen Thorax drew back a little, genuine hurt registering on her face. "Cosmopoliattan! I thought, all these millenium, that if I just came back, that you would love me as I love you...but no matter. If you love _her_ instead of me, I have no use for you any longer."

It was battle like no other-Queen Thorax blasting the royals and taunting them at every step, their expressions intensely focused at dodging and blasting at Queen Thorax and her minions.

"Where are your pretty princess daughters, Galaxia?" sneered Queen Thorax as she watched the the queen be set upon by a swarm of changelings disguised as civilians. "Hiding away in the palace, I suppose? Well, we'll soon drive them out. Guards! Search the palace, every nook and cranny of it!" Swarms of cloaked changelings swept towards the palace just as Queen Galaxia blasted aside another group of changelings.

For the first time the entire battle, Queen Galaxia smiled grimly. "You won't find them there, Thoraxia. You'll never find them!" She threw back her head and laughed, a beautiful musical sound that plugged itself into everypony's ears and calmed them down like smoke wafting into a cloud of bees.

The Royal Elite Queen of All Changelings didn't like that.

Queen Thorax snorted in fury. "You shall _NOT_ laugh at me ANY LONGER, GALAXIANA!" Eyes glowing a furious green, Queen Thorax reared back her head and threw it forward, releasing a terrifying spell towards the triumphant queen of Equestria.

An explosion rocked the earth, huge crevices spreading out every which way, swallowing everything in their paths, and deep in the Everfree Forest, amidst a bed of leaves, Princess Celestia awoke with a jolt.


	9. Chapter 9

Pain. Excruciating pain. White-hot pain. Whatever it was, there seemed to be no description for the sensation of being ripped apart, torn to pieces, shattered into millions of specks of dust.

She couldn't help it. She screamed. A horrible wailing sound that seemed to crumble the walls and collapse the floors. Or maybe it was the other way around, because there was just no separating the terrifying hallucinations with reality. What was real and what was projected by her tortured mind? Celestia didn't know. Perhaps it was better that she didn't.

Luna didn't even know what was happening. She heard only the agonized cries of her sister through the wall separating their bedrooms.

_Bang!_ The door of Celestia's room swung open and hit the wall behind it.

"Sister! Sister!" Luna cried. "Are you alright?"

"Luna, _I felt it_," Celestia panted, bolting upright in bed and still sweating bullets. "Oh it was the most _terrible_ pain you could ever imagine-oh my stars it was _horrible_-"

"Are you alright? Have you broken any bones? Is your horn alright?" Luna said, testing the latter herself. It seemed healthy and structurally sound, but she wasn't a hornetrician.

"N-no, nothing hurts, but _Luna_, oh it was like thousands of knives and needles and painful black magic stabbing and pricking and tearing at me-" Quite suddenly, the eldest princess of Equestria's eyes rolled back into her head and she keeled over in a dead faint.

"Tia!" Luna cried, trying desperately to rouse her unconscious sister. "Bother, bother, bother," she muttered when her efforts were for naught. Celestia was out cold, and would be for at least a couple of hours. And King Cosmos would never have stocked the palace with smelling salts, anyway. Come on, smelling salts? Fat chance.

King Cosmos! The thought bolted Luna upright! Her father! Her mother! They'd know what to do! After making sure Celestia was tucked in and locked the doors to her room, Luna galloped around checking the other multitudes of bedrooms for her parents'.

The new castle was small compared to Canterlot Castle, but it easily had almost a dozen rooms to sleep in, half a dozen on each of two levels of the castle. Luna searched all of them and came up with nothing.

_Surely they heard Tia's screams and came to check on her,_ Luna thought. _Yet I was the first one in the room._

Luna went all over the castle looking for the king and queen, but after searching every nook and cranny, she finally had to admit to herself that they were nowhere to be found. Perhaps they had already left the castle, and were currently doing repairs in Canterlot? Luna clung to this thread of hope, refusing to consider the alternative. That they had lost the battle against the changeling army.

Luna shook the thought from her mind as she went back to her room for a cloak. When she got there, she spent ten minutes narrowing down choices before coming at odds with a festive-looking red cape with gold accents and was lined with white fur and a simple black hooded garment.

_Just in case there are still some leftover changelings,_ Luna told herself as she put the red cape back into the closet. Before she left, she wrote a quick note for Celestia and slipped it under the door. Then, she slung on the cloak and was out the door.

Blueberry Lovely soon found there was no need for her black cloak, so she tucked it away in the messenger bag holding a meager hoof-full of bits. There was no worry, as the changeling menace appeared to have gone away.

Ponyville looked fine, normal, with citizens happily trotting about, smiles on their faces, animated voices chirping happy hellos. The delicious smells of bread, pastries and cakes baking wafted out of Clara's Cakes [A'sN: Sugar Cube Corner] and market vendors shouted their wares in the square.

But something was off. The Ponyvilians didn't have the same spring to their steps, the smiles were strained, and the voices sounded...just _strange_, as if it wasn't the ponies' own. The smells coming out of Clara's Cakes smelled almost musty, as if the baking supplies weren't exactly top-notch anymore, and the market vendors seemed weary and less willing to haggle.

Blueberry Lovely walked over to a familiar vendor: Periwinkle Fluff, who sold the loveliest flowers in all of Central Equestria.

"Hello," Blueberry said, smiling. "Periwinkle Fluff, is it?" she said cheerfully. Periwinkle gave a small smile.

"Yes," she replied. She seemed unwilling to say anything else, so Blueberry prompted her a little.

"I've been out of the country awhile, and it seems the whole country's in the dumps. What happened?" she asked.

Suddenly Periwinkle's expression changed. Her eyes widened, her face crinkled in fear. "You mean you don't _know_?" she gasped. "How could you not?"

"What?" Blueberry asked in fear. "What is it?"

Periwinkle looked about her stall, quickly, then whispered: "Oh, it's horrible! The king and queen have fallen and been kidnapped to the Hollow Mountains of the East and nopony knows where the princesses are! Luckily that horrible changeling queen got ill and had to retreat to the Hollow Mountains, but Canterlot's in shambles. They're trying to elect temporary rulers, and are offering rewards for anypony who helps them find the princesses. If you ask me," Periwinkle continued in a conspiratorial voice, "they shouldn't have to offer a reward. Everypony loves the princesses anyway."

Blueberry gasped. "The king and queen? Gone?"

"Yes, gone! And the princesses! They think that awful changeling queen took them as well, but nopony saw anything, which is worse! Oh, princesses, please come back!" Periwinkle sobbed. "Please excuse me," she said, pulling her "Closed" curtain shut.

Luna had had enough. She stormed back to the castle, filled a small bucket with cold water, took it into her sister's room and upended it over her sister's head.

"Gaah!" wailed Celestia as she awoke. "What? What happened? Are we under siege?"

"No, no," Luna said, quick to reassure her sister. "The changelings are gone, but they have Mother and Father with them! We have to go get them back, Tia, we must!"

Celestia gasped. "Not Mother and Father! Who's ruling Equestria?"

"Nopony! At least, I don't think so. Everypony's scrambling to get temporary rulers while they look for us! Hurry, Tia, we've got to go!"

"Right! Let's go!" Celestia shouted. She barged out the door and down the hallway, Luna following determinedly.

Outside, Luna was grateful to see that the clearing was still empty, because suddenly the castle was visible!

"Oh no," Celestia cried. "The spell's broken, which means Father's been weakened! We must hurry, Luna!" Celestia spread her wings and took flight.

Luna deactivated her cloaking spell and joined her sister in the sky. As they passed above Ponyville, they heard cheers: ragged and disbelieving at first, then strong and happy.

Neither of the sisters smiled.

"First, to Canterlot," Celestia said. "We must ensure everything is going smoothly."

"Right," Luna said. The two veered off towards Canterlot Mountain amidst cheers coming from the ground. A handful of pegasi even flew up to join the sisters in their flight to Canterlot. Soon the princesses had amassed an army of watchful citizens, protecting their princesses from any harm.

But this was war, and nopony was entirely safe.


	10. Chapter 10

Conk! Luna made a sound not much different from a small animal knocking around in a glass jar. Not that anypony would put a small animal in a jar. The hateful Queen Thorax had set a forcefield around Canterlot.

"Hag!" Celestia cried. A group of Canterlot citizens rushed over and pounded on the barrier.

"Where are all of the changelings? Wouldn't they stay to ensure we wouldn't return?" Luna said, puzzled, as Celestia frantically tried to remember a force field busting spell.

"Hiye, hiya, beybelunge!" Luna shouted in Ancient Alicorn (a more difficult manner of magic, going beyond the usual unicorn spell and needing vocal cues instead of just pure magic), amplifying a destruction spell. It bounced off and hit a tree, blasting it to smithereens.

"Dung!" she spat. Celestia shook her head.

"Calm, sister," she said. "A destruction spell won't do anything to a magic force field."

Luna rolled her eyes as Celestia closed her eyes and murmured a slower spell in Ancient Alicorn. A white-gold beam of light shot from Celestia's horn and enveloped the green forcefield surrounding Canterlot, then shattered it like glass. When the white-gold light dissipated, large chunks of glass-like green forcefield lay in the grass. Several unicorns helpfully moved the huge pieces away as the citizens greeted their princesses.

"Yes, yes, I'm glad to see you as well," Luna said, moving among the small cluster of citizens around her. She glanced over to see her sister being swarmed by a huge mob of ponies, all cheering and chanting "Ce-les-ti-a! Ce-les-ti-a!"

Ignoring the stabs of resentment in her heart, Luna called out to Celestia. "Ask them if any changelings remain!"

"Citizens of Canterlot-" Celestia tried, but she was barely audible above the roaring of the crowd. Celestia muttered "hiye hiya vokla na" under her breath, then boomed out: "CITIZENS OF CANTERLOT!"

All was silent. Blushing, Celestia continued using the vokla na spell. She didn't really fancy voice spells-they always strained her throat. But alas, royals had to use Ancient Alicorn for more than mundane spells. It was easier than trying to learn "simple magic" spells to do the same things.

"WE HAVE DESTROYED THE FORCEFIELD THAT IMPRISONED YOU, BUT WE MUST KNOW IF THE CHANGELINGS REMAIN." Puzzled, the citizens asked each other what the princess meant. What were changelings?

"CHANGELINGS ARE THE INSECTOID PONIES THAT INVADED YOUR HOME. THEIR QUEEN THORAX MASQUERADED AS YOUR QUEEN GALAXIA," Celestia added sheepishly, remembering that most citizens wouldn't know what changelings were.

After a few seconds, there was an unanimous shaking of heads. No changelings. The princesses shrugged.

Celestia wanted to tell her sister to be careful anyway, but judging from the consternation on her sister's face, there was no need for such a warning.

"THANK YOU CITIZENS OF CANTERLOT," Celestia shouted, then muttered "Dispelsu suy hiye hiya vokla na sey," she muttered, turning off the vokla na spell.

Then she looked at Luna, who gave her a panicked look. "Do you know what this means?"

It was up to them to save the king and queen of Equestria.


	11. Chapter 11

_Far from Canterlot, in a place well known as the Hollow Mountains of the East, in the Queen's bedroom..._

"Your time as Queen is here, my daughter. Tell me, how will you rule over your subjects?"

Princess Chrysalis wished that she could smile at the familiarity of the question, but couldn't bring her lips to do the deed. She could help noticing that this time it was phrased _your time as Queen is_ here_, my daughter_, not _draws near_. Her mother really was dying.

No. No crying. Her subjects did not need a weepy, weak Queen in such dire times. Princess Chrysalis cleared her throat and said: "My subjects will be treated with respect, mercy, and royalty, Mother."

Queen Thorax coughed, and several servants brought a mug of warm liquid love and some water. Queen Thorax took a sip of the latter before continuing: "And what of _other_ nations?"

Princess Chrysalis remembered when she was just a young change-filly, being asked these questions for what seemed the thousandth time. She'd squealed in wicked delight as she'd responded as she did now: "I will infiltrate their government, lull them into a false sense of humor..."

A cruel smile pulled Queen Thorax's lips towards her cold green eyes as her daughter closed her own eyes, took a deep breath and said fiercely: "and then DRAIN the love from their hearts until they are nothing but lifeless husks!"

Queen Thorax coughed again, a more raspy, desperate sound that the last, and coming in a peal, unstoppable until the Queen of All the Changelings recovered and said: "THAT is my daughter! JOIN me in evil laughter!"

And, just like old times, the Princess of All the Changelings Chrysalis did- only to watch helplessly as her mother's evil laughter dissolved into coughing

Then

Suddenly

Nothing.

As they carted her mother's body away Princess-Now-Queen Chrysalis willed not a tear to fall from her lashes. She remembered when her mother told her love was to be consumed, not to be stored in the heart, when her father was killed in battle. "He was a valiant warrior," was all Queen Thorax had said, and the memory faded.

Suddenly an army officer galloped into the room, surprising all the servants, including the now-Queen Chrysalis.

"Where is the Queen? Where is the Queen?" shouted the officer. Officer Sable, his name was.

"She is gone," said Chrysalis. "Bow to your queen!" Officer Sable's disbelieving look was hidden as he dropped into a quick bow for his new queen.

"Then let us do the coronation ceremony immediately," Officer Sable said. "My spies in the ponies' capital has brought information that their princesses are preparing for war. I've summoned them all back, but we must hurry. They are not sure how much time we have."

Chrysalis nodded grimly. "Ready the battalions. Those princesses are like eels in oil-deceitful and cunning. They could be here any moment: we must be ready. I shall dress myself in my...ceremonial attire." Chrysalis hadn't worn her ceremonial attire since...well, since she was fitted for a new one. The skirt was a layer of black on top of two green layers, all torn in the pure Changeling style. On top of that was a billowy, translucent dusty blue layer, also torn. The sleeves were short, jagged, and the collar was a two layers of sea green, jagged at the top, and a forest green calla lily fanning behind the neck and closing into a green gem in the front of the bodice.

For it, her hair was done in a loose but neat bun, with only a long strand to dangle by her face and another to tuck behind her ear. Her crown was tucked just in front of the bun.

_In my heart, there is no room_

_But I still want...[it] to be all mine_

"By the Law and Code of the Changelings, I hereby crown you as Queen Chrysalisa Silverwing of All the Changelings. Step forward and receive your crown."

The four days leading up to this tension-fraught moment had been excruciating: planning made for a ceremony done over two or three days that what should have been done over a week's time, the polishing of the coronation crown, the finding of a mage to do the rites, the dressing of the appropriate changelings, most of all the was-Princess Chrysalis's attire.

She was deviously beautiful.

No banquet was arranged: the first coronation the changeling empire would ever have, and it was of a grim air instead of being festive. All her subjects knew of the imminent danger in the form of their enemies' daughters-the same two enemies whose locations were a mystery. For, of course, Queen Thoraxia Silverwing had died with the secret. And there were no written records, no second-in-command who knew.

Chrysalis liked it that way.

She did as the mage asked. Just seconds before the mage had asked her: "Do you vow to protect your citizens and treat them with respect, mercy and royalty?"

Chrysalis thought she could have cried at the familiar words: almost her mother's dying words.

_No. No crying._

She'd said yes, of course. Then she'd said yes to a whole bunch of other boring vows. All leading up to this moment. This very moment when she would become the Queen of All the Changelings. A responsibility she would never have dreamed of carrying on her shoulders when she was young. Such a thing frightened her then.

It thrilled her now.

The crown was set on her head, and the ceremony room lit with a menacing green light as now-Queen Chrysalis's now-subjects cheered. Their encouragements sounded harsh, raucous in her ears.

Perfect.

Swooping into the air and muttering "hiye hiya vokla na" underneath her breath, she yelled: "MY SUBJECTS! I VOW TO RULE OVER YOU AS MY MOTHER NEVER HAD! BETTER, AND I WILL FINALLY RID US OF THE PONY MENACE THAT IS THEIR PRINCESSES!" More cheers.

Suddenly an echoing _boom_ sounded from beyond the small royal palace carved out of the mountain, causing all of Queen Chrysalis's subjects to shoot out of their carved seats, their wings to beat the air, their weapons to be brought out with menacing _shing!_s.

Queen Chrysalis flew to her chambers with her chambermaids to ready for battle:

The princesses of Equestria had arrived.


	12. Chapter 12

Gearing up had not been easy.

First of all, there was Celestia's armor to be secured: all reinforced steel gold, with a helmet, chestplate, and a quartet of ankle and hoof guards. The helmet was simple, with a round opening to funnel Celestia's mane through, and sun designs fused into the metal. A horn reinforcement spike jutted out in front of Tia's horn, and her mane was held back by the opening her her helmet.

The chestplate bore Celestia's signature darkened amethyst, with swirled designs along a strip of metal underneath another strip with decorative bumps of gold. The rest of the chestplate was in a folded-back, layered design that swept just under Celestia's wings. The ankle guards bore similar swirled designs, and the hoof guards were embossed with Celestia's cutie mark. Her tail was tamed and held back with gold bands with those same swirled designs.

The armor had to be polished and tested for efficiency and maximum safety, and as if going to war wasn't nerve-wracking already, a swarm of changelings were seen heading towards the Hollow Mountains of the East. So there _had_ been leftover changeling spies.

After she had been issued a large gold battleaxe with a black steel handle, it was Luna's turn to be outfitted next.

Her armor was a smoky gray-blue, with a helmet, chestplate, hoof and ankle guards, like Celestia's, except the two sets couldn't have looked more different. Luna's helmet had two sweeping, knife-sharp embellishments by each temple, her ears behind and her mane pulled back with a mane elastic. Her black crescent moon symbol stood out on her forehead just underneath her horn, which went into a socket reinforcement.

Her chestplate was shaped rather like a rugged cape, with a thin black strip of designs along the top and ended down towards her legs with an neat spiked pattern. Her black crescent symbol was embossed on the front. Her hoof and ankle guards were the same smoky gray-blue as the rest of the armor set and bore the same black crescent symbol. Last of all, she was given a deadly-looking blue spear with the business end in an interlocking diamond pattern.

The princesses were ready for battle at last.

The Equestrian Army was assembled, thousands of citizens who wanted nothing more than to fight for their country and their king and queen, all outfitted in spare golden armor from the Royal Guard. Weapons were handed out to the soldiers, and quick lessons given to earth ponies and pegasi. Within three days, they were ready to storm the Hollow Mountains of the East.

It wasn't easy getting an entire army over to the Hollow Mountains.

Most of the soldiers were clumsy buggers, to phrase it in a very Luna-like way. Of course the _soldiers_ didn't hear that, but Celestia scolded her sister anyway. It took them another day to get to the Hollow Mountains. After camping in the forest at the foot of the mountains for the night, the army was ready.

And so were the princesses.

"Stand _back_, everypony!" Luna yelled to her subjects, who were trying to surge towards the mountain with battle cries. It wasn't until Celestia barked out: "Listen to Princess Luna!" that the crowd of soldiers stopped and stayed quiet as the sisters stepped up to a key part of the changelings' base. Quietly, at the back of the crowd of impatient soldiers, those that were assigned to break up camp finally arrived.

The sisters, standing side-by-side, closed their eyes, horns glowing. "Hiye hiya hiye hiya beybelunge!" they both yelled, and an enormous BOOM! deafened everypony for a couple seconds as a rain of rock dust showered upon the army.

When the dust cleared, a giant hole was now in the side of the impenetrable mountains.

Roaring, the army swirled around the princesses, who took flight and swooped into the mountain.

They'd blasted into an unoccupied section of the changelings' mountain home, so they were easily able to secure an area for their own use. Celestia ignored the feeling that something wasn't quite right and beelined, Luna at her side, towards the main section of the Changeling settlement.

A swarm of blue- and green-eyed black rose up to meet them.

Immediately the royal army was upon the swarm, and the princesses' spells blasted apart more, enough for an opening towards the small palace built into the side of the hollowed-out mountain.

"Split up! You lead the charge with the army and keep the changelings back. I'll go find Mother and Father!" Celestia shouted.

Luna nodded and yelled over the roar of battle orders to the army as they blasted disorganized clumps of changeling. Meanwhile, Celestia and her personal guard ambushed the palace.

As the palace contained little more than the royals' bedrooms and the storage rooms, it wasn't hard to find Chrysalis's hiding place: her bedroom.

"Where is your queen?" Celestia roared after zapping aside some changelings inside Chrysalis's chamber.

Chrysalis laughed, an unsettling, evil sound. "She'd dead!" Chrysalis cackled. "She's taken the location of your precious king and queen to the grave with her!" She was still laughing even as her minions fell to the ground around her.

"I don't believe you!" Celestia yelled, pinning Chrysalis to the wall with a magic bond and holding her battleaxe to Chrysalis's neck.

Suddenly Luna was pinned to the wall instead of Chrysalis, who lay on the ground nearby, grinning madly.

"No! Sister! Stop!" Luna cried, wriggling madly. Surprised and bewildered, Celestia did so.

"Luna, what-" No sooner had she removed the magic bonds did Luna tackle her, pinning Celestia to the ground. She then turned into a joyfully cackling Chrysalis. Her copy, who lay injured nearby, reverted to his normal form, sneering at the sight of Celestia on the ground.

"You fool! That's the oldest trick in the book!" Chrysalis crowed as Celestia struggled.

"Let me go, fiend!" she yelled. Chrysalis simply laughed.

"I'm not finished with you yet, Princess. Why, we've hardly begun-" Just then, the wall exploded, and amidst the wreckage stood the true Luna.

Chrysalis's eyes widened. "Never!" she cried hoarsely. "Retreat!" She and her minions flew off, leaving Luna to roar at some soldiers to _get after them!_

"It's up to us to find Mother and Father!" Celestia cried. "Chrysalis doesn't know and Queen Thorax is dead! Let's go!"

The princesses took off, a hoof-full of guards following faithfully.

"First stop, search the rest of the palace," Celestia said. "You never know."

Luna nodded and barked out a command to the mass of bedraggled soldiers gathering behind their princesses. They scattered in groups, taking out any changeling that dared step in their way, and began to search the palace.

"Let's go search the dungeons," Celestia yelled, and she and her sister flew out of the palace and towards the rock outcropping housing the entrance to the underground changeling dungeon.

They were instantly beset upon by changelings, but the soldiers kept them off the princesses until they entered the changeling dungeon. Immediately a dark form jumped on Celestia and hissed.

"Off my sister, fool!" Luna yelled, and sent a bolt of magic towards the changeling guard, which went reeling off, knocking over a couple of its comrades.

Waves and waves of changelings swarmed the two princesses, and there seemed no end to it until the Equestrian Army flooded the dungeon and took them all out, giving Celestia and Luna enough time to dash around and look into each cell.

"Look, sister!" Luna cried, pointing. "This one has an almost unnoticeable panel in the back wall!"

"Careful! It may be a trap," Celestia said, knocking aside a changeling as her sister stepped into the cell and pressed the panel, hard. It fell in, revealing a large, rough room, as if it had recently been hastily dug and made.

"Ksst thsm vey from döor!" A changeling general hissed, and another group of changelings pounced on the sisters. They were quickly picked off by EA soldiers.

The sisters went carefully into the room, looking for any traps.

Luna stepped on a tile and ducked as an arrow whizzed by her head, narrowly missing her horn. It seemed to be the only trap, and the two sisters neared a very curious looking feature at the back of the room.

A shimmering mirror-like projection showed King Cosmos and Queen Galaxia lying, unmoving, on a platform atop a long flight of stairs, carved into the top of a mountain and surrounded by tall stalagtites of black rock. A bulky three-headed dog with a spiked collar stood guard in front of the far left platform, which held a cage with a shriveled form in it. Neither of the princesses could tell if it was still alive. Two other platforms stood by, one on the far right, and the middle one, which held the king and queen of Equestria.

The two princesses rushed into the portal just as the EA soldiers swarmed into the room.

"Careful, sister," Celestia said to Luna. "The dog may not be friendly."

"I think it's name is Cerberus," Luna said, walked cautiously towards it. The dog had been watching the two princesses intently, neither aggressive nor passive. But when Luna neared it, it instantly softened, and started panting like a lapdog.

"Ooo! Good doggy! Very good doggy!" Luna giggled as the huge three- headed black bulldog flipped onto its back, asking for a belly rub. "Quick, Tia! Go save our parents!"

"Right!" Celestia had been so astonished by Luna's taming of the frightening dog that she'd gone completely still. She took flight and flew over to the platform with her parents. Her mother weakly raised her head.

"T-tia?" she asked. Her eyes lit up. "Tia!" King Cosmos did not stir.

"Mother!" Tia quickly helped her mother up. "What's wrong with Father?"

"He's so weak," Queen Galaxia said, clearly exhausted. Luna appeared, landing down and rushing over to her father, who fluttered his eyes. Carefully Luna placed him in a position to be leaning on her back, and together, the four royals took flight, towards the portal full of soldiers with beckoning eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

The two princesses arrived at the portal safely and went through, carrying their worryingly much lighter parents on their backs.

"Is the king and queen alright?" asked the captain of the guard, worried.

"We can't be sure-get them to the sickbay!" Celestia said, but Queen Galaxia raised her head and said: "No."

Celestia was taken aback. "_No_? Why not, Mother? You're injured!"

"No, no," Queen Galaxia said. "I am not, and neither is your father-it's just our magic-Thoraxia sucked too much of it away-"

"Stop! Talk sense, Mother! Let's get to the infirmary!" Celestia pleaded.

Queen Galaxia coughed. "Daughter-you know I have always loved you-" she coughed again. "And Luna-" Queen Galaxia shifted so she was looking at her younger daughter. "I loved you as well, and I know I did not show it as much as your father did, but I did, I loved you both, as did your father-" Another peal of coughs.

"Mother!" Celestia was alarmed now. "Mother! Listen to me, you're hysterical-"

"No, daughter. Listen to me. What I will say next will not be something you want to do, but you must for the good of the people." More coughs.

"You and Luna must become the rulers of Equestria."

Celestia felt hollow. "No, Mother, you musn't-"

"Listen to me!" Queen Galaxia was now furious. "Your father and I don't have much time left-you _must_ protect your country at any cost-do you hear me? _Any cost!_ Even if you must lose what is dearest to you, _you must do it to save Equestria!_"

Celestia was crying now. "Mother, no-"

"_You must do it!_" Then the ruler of Equestria went limp.

"No!" Celestia cried, putting her ear to her mother's chest. "Quickly, quickly! She's still alive! Let's go!"

"The nearest exit out of the mountains is right by the sickbay, Highness," the head of the guard said urgently.

"Then let's go!" Celestia and Luna, precariously balancing their mother and father on their backs with support from their guards, followed the head of the guard out into the light of day.

Or so they thought.

It should have been day, but it was night-time had passed faster than Celestia thought. "Come, then! Let's go!" The sickbay tent was within sight: it wasn't even very crowded, luckily.

"Your Highness!" A guard flanking Celestia's left side shouted. He had his hoof gingerly pressed to Queen Galaxia's chest, probably flinching inside at the fact that he was _touching his queen_ on the chest. "Her heartbeat's slowing!"

"So is the king's!" said a guard helping Luna support King Cosmos.

"No! No!" Celestia cried, but it was useless.

She watched helplessly as her parents' bodies dissolved into white light as they died, then shot into the sky.

Two pinpricks of light joined their many comrades in the satin blue night.

"It was a very irrational decision, Princess, that's all I'm saying," said one of Celestia and Luna's many squirrelly advisors as the sisters walked away from their parents' funeral.

It had been a week since the Battle at the Hollow Mountains, and the sisters had recklessly destroyed two thirds of Chrysalis's changeling army, fueled by the rage of having lost their parents, _the rulers of Equestria_. Also, their parents were dead! They were entitled to a little more than _punching a pillow_, right?

The princesses had thought so, and after blasting through Chrysalis's army, they found the princess herself in a magic-sealed bunker, broke the seal with some help from their mages, and accosted Chrysalis and her guards. They tried to seal Chrysalis in the same strange jail guarded by Luna's new gigantic black three-headed lapdog, (which Luna dubbed Tartarus after the pit used to jail giants and stuff in Graecus legend, used thousands of years ago, before even the royal alicorns, to explain how unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies came about. The jail, not the dog, whose name was, in fact, Cerberus), but only succeeded in weakening her. The rest of her ragtag army protected their queen and drove the bedraggled royal forces out of the Hollow Mountains, and nopony really cared to continue the attack.

The funeral preparations had took longer than the average pony's, seeing as 1. The to-be-buried were thousands-old royal superponies, and 2. There were no bodies to bury. In the end, some of the king and queen's favorite things were put in coffins, with elaborate gravestones carved with stars, scrolls, and their own likenesses. King Cosmos's gravestone had the following inscription, which Luna had composed:

_A king he was to many_

_A father he was to three_

_Whatever he may have been_

_There was nopony better_

_If tears could build a stairway,_

_and memories a lane,_

_I'd walk right up to paradise_

_and bring you back down again._

The one Celestia chose said:

_If our love for our queen were an ocean_

_There would be no more land_

_If our love were a desert_

_You would see only sand_

_If our love were a star_

_Late at night, there'd only be light_

_And if our love could grow wings_

_We'd all be soaring in flight._

"Lovely," Luna had remarked dryly, but there had been tears brimming at the ends of her eyes, as well as the stonecarver's.

Now, after the king and queen had been buried, Celestia and Luna were stuck with dealing with the squirrelly advisors King Cosmos had appointed whilst building the gray castle in the Everfree Forest, before he and Queen Galaxia had been captured. Just in case.

And now these advisors would be stuck to Celestia and Luna for a year, a very short amount of time in an alicorn's life, but they still had to live through it all the same.

Luna opened her mouth in a smirk, as if to reply with a cutting remark, but Celestia glared at her and calmly replied: "Yes, Mr. Dapple, but I'm afraid we weren't quite thinking calmly at the time. Also, I'd appreciate if we could discuss this in a more private place."

Mr. Dapple's face blushed beet red. _Of course_ he hadn't gotten used to royalty just yet, Celestia thought, as the poor middle-aged stallion stammered: "Y-yes, of course, princess." He then dropped so quickly into a deep bow that he nearly smashed his nose to pieces. Wobbling slightly, he tottered off to join his comrades, the other two advisors: Mr. Letter and Mistress Lace.

Mr. Dapple's full name, of course, was Faun Dapple, Mr. Letter's was Script Letter, and Mistress. Lace's was Dainty Lace. Mr. Dapple was just a general manager, a sort of guardian for the princesses, Mr. Letter was touching up the sisters' knowledge on Equestrian law and practices, and Mistress Lace taught the sisters etiquette lessons.

No wonder all of the princesses' studies with their parents were focused solely on celestial, magic-based duties: raising the sun and moon, learning Ancient Alicorn, using general magic, etc. Everything else would be taught by a stammery ginger stallion wearing glasses he was constantly polishing with a striped gray and white cloth, a stiff-necked, strict lawyer, and a plump and demanding mare with her mane and tail in corkscrew curls unbefitting a mare of her age. All three were unicorns.

Finally the sisters had some time to themselves. "I miss Dad so much," Luna said sorrowfully. "Now that they're technically buried, it just seems so...final."

"I know what you mean," Celestia agreed, but for some strange reason her mind was being pulled to Discord. "Hey, did you ever find out what happened to Sombra and Discord?"

Luna shook her head. "Sombra said that last time we met that he and Discord had parted ways."

"Ah." Celestia wondered how recent Luna's last meeting with Sombra was, but didn't ask. They were walking away from their parents' funeral, for stars' sake.

_For their sake,_ Celestia thought mournfully.

She and Luna went home in silence.


	14. Chapter 14

The next few years went by with little fanfare: the advisors left, the old captain of the royal guard had to be replaced by his son, who had to undergo the special ceremony in which he vowed to never reveal any secrets of the Equestrian crown and military to other nations, with a death penalty.

Nopony so far had dared break the vow. Yet.

Then one day, a day more fateful than any else:

Sombra returned to Canterlot.

It was just another peaceful day at the Sisters' Castle (Celestia and Luna, not wanting to waste a perfectly good castle, had given use of Canterlot Castle to the kingdom's few government officials. They could use everything but the royals' bedrooms) when Sombra told the guards he was an old friend of Princess Luna's, and a guard fetched Luna for confirmation.

Celestia and Luna were reading in the library when the guard came to get Luna: Celestia was reading _Hoofeo and Juliet_, by a famous playwright a couple thousand years ago named Shakespony. Luna was reading _Sense and Sensibilipony_ again.

A knock came at the huge library doors, and Celestia said loudly: "Come in!"

The guard cracked the door open and peeked in. Upon seeing the princesses, he dropped into a deep bow and said: "There's a strange at the gates, Princess Luna. He claims to be an old friend of yours."

This guard was a descendant of Trottimus's, and Celestia couldn't help but see the coincidences as Luna blushed and said: "What doth this stranger look like?"

"He's an earth pony, Your Majesty," Trottimus's descendant said. Neither of the princesses had bothered to learn his real name. It was probably Trottimus XIV or something anyway.

Luna was instantly alert. "Black coat, black mane and tail, maroon eyes?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," the guard said. "He has requested to see you."

Luna bolted from her chair, throwing _Sense and Sensibilipony_ aside. "Take me to him," she ordered the guard.

Celestia decided to tag along.

The guard took them to the main entrance to the Sisters' Castle, where they could see Sombra arguing with the guards posted there.

It was still same old Sombra: his appearance was unchanged. But yet there was a shiftiness in his eyes, an unmistakable crafty glint that wasn't there before. As soon as Luna came into view, his eyes shifted from the guards to Luna, and he smiled.

"Luna! Tell these fool guards to let me in!" Sombra cried. Luna rushed over to the entrance.

"Let him in," Luna said sternly to the guards, and they stepped off to the side. Sombra threw a self-satisfied sneer their way before trotting over to Luna.

They hugged. "Oh, Sombra, I've missed you so much," Luna said.

"As have I, you," Sombra said, his voice oddly formal. Luna drew back.

"Why the formality? We're old friends, Sombra," Luna asked, confused. Sombra shrugged.

"One should not hug princesses in public, even if they are old friends. Come, let's get away." Luna giggled as Sombra pulled her into the hallways of the Sisters' Castle as easy as if he himself lived in the gray castle.

Celestia had a bad feeling about Sombra.

But she couldn't do anything about it. There wasn't a place in the palace where there wouldn't be guards acting as chaperones, and Luna would never act rashly under the circumstances. She and Sombra were never really in an intimate relationship anyway-it had just been friendship.

Right?

_Right_, Celestia told herself, and excused herself to her office, where she had a mountain of paperwork.

When she got to her office, though, she groaned. A huge pile of mail filled her mail hamper, and she had to sort through it all for the day. Chutes in the walls sent letters and packages either to be sent again, to the billrooms (where accountants furiously tapped away on calculators and computers), to be transported to Canterlot Castle, or to the Distribution Room, where things were handed out to the staff of the Sisters' Castle.

She was about halfway down the pile when she found quite a different letter from the other pale white, clean-cut, commercial enveloped she'd been sifting through: it was made of sheer crystal.

Celestia gasped. A letter from the Crystal Empire! Such a rarity. Carefully getting out her crystal letter opener (a gift from Princess Amaris), she sliced open the flap and took out the thick piece of creamy paper nestled within the crystal envelope.

It said:

_Dear Celestia:_

_Oh, joy! Quillius and I are going to have a filly! We haven't decided on a name yet but I was so excited I just wanted to tell you and Luna immediately, because the doctors said there's a high likelihood this one will survive! How long have Quillius and I dreamed of such an occasion? For too long, that's how long. Oh, Celestia! I know you've never had any children of your own, and never plan to, I must say that having the possibility of producing a filly, to feel another pony stirring inside you...it's a feeling of love like nothing else. Quillius says I'm over exaggerating, but I do believe no mother has felt more love for her filly than I have for mine. And I feel blasphemous penning these words on the page, but I fear for my parents' health. Perhaps a new heir is a good thing._

_Your best cousin,_

_Amaris_

Celestia smiled. How long had she comforted her decidedly older cousin after miscarriages? How long had she listened to Amaris cry about never being able to keep a child?

She was happy for her.

The news about Queen Emeralda and King Rubeus was worrying, though. Since they weren't celestial alicorns, their lifespans were shorter than Celestia's and Luna's, so there was no real worry that it was something more. But the Crystal Empire still needed rulers, and Quillius, while being brave and wise when the situation required him to be, was more interested in reading and writing books and papers than ruling a kingdom. And while Amaris was adept enough at running an empire, what about after her?

An heir was just the thing the empire needed.

After a couple hours of sorting mail (and deciding to hire somepony else to do it for her) and signing papers, Celestia decided to check on Luna and Sombra and asked a guard where they were.

"In the library, Your Highness," was the reply, and Celestia was off.

In the large library, she looked all over for Luna and Sombra, but they appeared to have disappeared. She'd been searching for five minutes before she heard Luna giggling behind one one of the stacks.

She and Sombra were seated on the ground, facing inwards towards the shelf, and Sombra was making a goofy face. Neither of them had seen or spotted Celestia yet, and they looked so happy Celestia wanted to keep it that way. So she went off to her reading corner to finish _Hoofeo and Juliet_-she simply _had_ to find out how Hoofeo reacted to Juliet's "death".


	15. Chapter 15

The days went by, and Sombra was a frequent visitor to the Sisters' Castle. He was so charming and smooth, so unlike his former awkward, shy self. Celestia couldn't believe that it was still him, Sombra, a nopony from nowhere who had somehow won her sister's heart.

She still didn't trust him, but put on a happy face and pretended to. It was probably her being overprotective of Luna, anyway.

Luna seemed to have no problems trusting Sombra-they went all over the castle together laughing at their little inside jokes. Celestia would probably feel lonely without her sister, if only she had the time. While Luna was running around, giggling like a filly with her new pal, Celestia was busy trying to run a kingdom, a task that two ponies should have been sharing, really.

Celestia had long since stopped trying to get Luna to pick up some slack. Either she would promise to do some work, then waltz off with Sombra, or Sombra would tell Celestia not to be such a hardflank.

After a particularly trying day of office work, Luna visited Celestia in her room, to apologize. Which was just as well, lest Celestia go on a furious rampage and _beybelunge_ everything in sight.

"I'm sorry for making you do all the work, Tia," Luna had said, watching Celestia comb through snaggles in her orange-red-golden mane.

"Mmmhmm," Celestia said. "That apology might seem a little more genuine if you actually mean it," she grumbled.

"I do! I really do! Tell you what, tomorrow you go out and relax while Sombra and I do that day's work. It'll be so much fun!"

"It will not be FUN!" Celestia shouted. "Office work is BORING, especially when you're doing two times more than you should be!"

Luna shrank back. "Okay, sorry, it's not fun."

Celestia sighed. She shouldn't be mad. "Okay. Sorry. Thanks."

"Oh, sister!" Luna's eyes lit up. "Oh, Tia!"

"Under one condition." Celestia held up a hoof. "You and Sombra MUST finish the day's work or you'll be doing it the next day along with that day's work."

"Okay! Oh, Celestia, you won't regret this! Okay, I have to go take care of the moon now-bye!" She dashed out before Celestia could reply.

Leaving the Celestial Princess of Equestria wondering: what had she done?

The next day, Celestia woke up, brushed her mane, tail, coat, and teeth, slipped on her tiara and hoof crowns, and set out for the town.

She visited old Cleur de Fleur, who had taken on an apprentice to run her shop-she had finally admitted that she was getting old.

She took a quick trip to Ponyville using a teleporting Ancient Alicorn spell (tempyritus) and visited Clara's Cakes, then went around her kingdom talking to all her citizens.

It was late afternoon when she finally got back to the palace, happy at seeing all her citizens' joyful faces. It was only by the entrance to her office that she finally wondered if Luna and Sombra had actually completed the day's work. She wanted to check, so she opened the door just a crack to check it out.

Papers were strewn all over the office, quills flung carelessly into the chandelier, onto the floor, jammed in drawers and left in inkwells. A bust of Shakespony had been knocked onto the floor, and his left ear had cracked off. The side-table off to the side held all assortments of crusty glasses and crumbed-up plates, and a jam tart was slowly oozing down the right wall.

In the middle of the chaos, Luna and Sombra sat at Celestia's desk, Sombra in the chair, Luna on the desk itself. They were looking at a document and reading it over, snorting, then broke into peals of helpless laughter.

Seeing Sombra sitting so easily in her own chair angered Celestia even more than seeing her office in utter chaos. Which was easily resolved with a little magic, but Sombra's attitude was something she could not stand anymore.

"What do you think you two are _doing_?" Celestia yelled, galloping into the room, right up to the desk. She levitated Sombra out of her chair and onto the ground. "Why is my office so messy, why are half of the papers on the floor and on the furniture unsigned or half-done, and _why are you sitting in my seat_?!"

Sombra brushed himself off. "Princess Celestia, with all due respect, we thought your office could use some...decorating." He looked at Luna, as if expecting her to laugh, but she looked terrified.

And with good reason. Celestia's eyes glowed with fury. How dare he pretend that this was all a joke, how dare he waltz into the palace and distract her sister from her royal duties and think he was high enough to call an _Equestrian royal_ a _hardflank_. She'd put up with it before, because she wanted Luna to be happy, but Celestia could take it no more. "You...you are not welcome here, in this castle, or anywhere near Canterlot! You will leave, and you will _never come back_. I don't want to see your scoundrel face ANYWHERE NEAR MY SISTER!"

Rearing her head, Celestia threw a spell at Sombra, who finally had the decency to look frightened. She threw him out of the window, shattering it, and flung him into the distance. His form was soon no longer than a dot on the horizon.

Luna was crouched down, sobbing and using a document for a tissue. Angrily, Celestia tore it away.

"How could you?! I trusted you to _stay on task_ and _do some work_! Instead you trash my office and do _next to no work_! I'm sure when the mail ponies go through the baskets, they'll find official royal documents smeared with jam and crumpled up through a rough journey down the chute!"

"How could _you_ banish him?! How could you fling him out the window, how could you toss him to his death?! Who are you to decide somepony's fate?" Luna sobbed again.

"Stop crying," Celestia snapped. "I won't have this. First you bring that... that _lowly worm_ into my palace, allow him into the castle _every day_, then stand by and watch as he disrespects me, as he treats the castle as his own, as he _makes my office a garbage dump_?! And how dare you think I would kill him! He'll find a pillowy piece of magic by where he finally lands."

Luna didn't stop crying. Instead, she got up and ran for the door. "I loved him! And it's your fault now that we'll never see each other again!" She left, shutting the door behind her with a hollow bang.

And for the first time since her parents' death, Celestia felt a single tear escape her eye.


	16. Chapter 16

Luna eventually sobered up and admitted that Sombra had been a bit of a menace, but Celestia could feel a wedge had been thrust between them, and her sister was never the same. Luna was often in the library, reading books on magic, filled with things she should have known already. Yet every day she meticulously copied the contents down on parchment, and every day she sent bulging envelopes to someone called Arbmos, who lived in the Crystal Empire.

If Celestia had been a little more suspicious about Luna's blatant plagiarizing and fat letters to some strange pony who lived outside of Equestria, all that happened with Sombra next could have been avoided. But she had not been, and she allowed Luna freedom that she couldn't handle. Besides, if Celestia imposed any more restrictions upon her sister, she feared Luna might do something rash. So she let her little sister be and attended to other problems around the kingdom.

Soon, another old friend showed up with disastrous results, although perhaps in a little more straightforward way: Discord returned and demanded to corule Equestria.

It was just another sleepy morning at the Sisters' Castle, and Celestia was plowing through yet another pile of paperwork, Luna at her side, with her red wire frame glasses and her mane pulled back into a tail, eyes half-lidded and bored as she signed document upon document.

At first everypony was confused: they'd never seen Luna's signature, and thought somepony was trying to pass things off that Celestia didn't approve of. So Celestia had to clear all that up that yes, that signature was valid, and yes, she knew about them all.

And then suddenly, the floor became black-and-white tiles, and everything was turned upside-down.

"Wha-wha-Luna!" Celestia looked angrily at her sister as she got up. She was now sitting on the ceiling of her office, her crystal chandelier half-shattered nearby.

"I'm not doing this!" Luna wailed, skittering away from a sharp shard of crystal and trying to get up.

Suddenly a guard dashed in, also turned onto the ceiling. "Your Majesties! A draconequus is at the gates and is demanding to see you!"

Celestia gasped as Luna said out loud her thoughts exactly: "Discord?"

The sisters and the guard dashed to the entrance as fast as they could, avoiding chandeliers and fallen furniture and ducking under rugs. The undersides of the tapestries on the walls were showing, rough and ugly, and the suits of armor stationed along the walls had crashed to the ceiling and lay in decrepit heaps.

When Celestia and Luna got to the entrance, however, they nearly skittered off the edge. The Sisters' Castle, along with the ground it was sitting on, had been completely ripped from the earth and was dangling upside-down in the air, clods of dirt and grass roots slipping and sliding off the pointed slope atop the castle. Just outside the entrance, Discord was floating in the air, laughing wildly as he summoned pink cotton candy clouds raining chocolate milk and turning rabbits into long-legged, hoofed abominations of nature stampeding around in herds.

"Discord! Stop this immediately!" Celestia shouted pleadingly. Luna shot her a disapproving look but then turned away again.

Quite suddenly, the Sisters' Castle righted itself again and plugged itself back into the earth. As she, Luna, and the guard crashed to the ground once again, Celestia could hear the crashing of furniture falling back, rumpled and broken, back to the ground. She thought of all the open inkwells that had been spewing ink onto the ceiling in her office falling back to the desk and splattering more ink and winced.

She turned to the guard. "Get the maids to start cleaning patrol immediately," she said. "We'll handle Discord."

The guard nodded briefly and galloped off, avoiding the smashed vases and small lopsided tables. A guard crawled out from underneath a rug, and another was trying to right the royal thrones.

"Discord, what is your aim?" Luna demanded as a pink cotton candy cloud showered her with chocolate milk. She batted it away, only for it to drift into the castle and dampen the rugs and tapestries with chocolate milk.

Discord sneered at her. "I have no business with _you_, _princess_. I'm here to talk to the lovely Celestia."

Celestia tried not to look surprised. The Discord she knew was shy and awkward, but had, like Sombra, changed drastically now that he had these strange new powers.

"Stop, Discord! Turn those animals back and get rid of those dratted _clouds_!" Celestia yelled, and with _poof_s her orders were answered.

"Come, Celestia. Let's go..._negotiate_ a little." Discord drifted into the palace, swiped Celestia along the bottom of her chin with a single lion appendage (paw? finger?) and glided towards her office.

Celestia stood staring after him for a little bit before Luna's voice brought her back. "Well? Follow him! I'll go check on the cleaning efforts!" Then Luna dashed off and Celestia was left to trot awkwardly after Discord.

"So let me get this straight-you want to _corule Equestria_?!" Celestia shrieked.

She and Discord were in her office, Discord lounging casually in one of Celestia's chairs turned upside down, and was stroking a beaver with red eyes and fangs, who hissed at him and attempted to bite him every few seconds.

"Mmm hmm. Or else I'll storm into that pretty little palace of yours up in Canterlot and take it over."

_How casually he mentions taking over an entire kingdom_, Celestia thought, then shook her head.

"You expect me to hand over half the kingdom to a draconequus-turned- spirit-of-chaos?" Celestia demanded, angry that, like Sombra, Discord had just waltzed into the castle like it was his own and wrested control from her. It made her wonder what she'd ever seen in him. He was incapable of friendship or any affection at all, especially now that he was _the spirit of chaos_.

Discord nodded, a huge smirk plastered on his face, as he turned the beaver into a glass of chocolate milk. He slurped up the glass, leaving only the glass-shaped chocolate milk, then tossed the milk out of a window, where it exploded a bush.

"Discord, I'll have to insist that you leave _right now_, and I won't hesitate to do it myself if I must. I don't want to see hide nor horn of you or your chaos magic anywhere this side of Equestria. Do I make myself clear?"

Discord pouted. "I suppose that means no coruling?"

Celestia didn't allow herself to relax. "No. Leave now, Discord."

"Pfft." Discord looked disappointed. "And here I was, thinking I could negotiate with such a reasonable mare as you, and instead get turned down cold! A shame, a shame," Discord said, tutting and shaking his head. "Then I suppose I'll have to take Equestria by force." And with a _poof_, Discord was gone.


	17. Chapter 17

"He's been worryingly quiet lately," Luna said one day in the office.

"Who are you talking about? Please don't play the pronoun game with me," Celestia said, holding her book closer to squint at the subscript along the bottom of a book's page through her orange horn-rimmed glasses. Her reading nowadays was almost entirely aimed towards protecting her kingdom from Discord's threat, reading on battle strategies against an enemy with the upper hand, sword techniques, weaknesses in the draconequus's anatomy, and whatever else she and Luna thought would be useful.

"Discord, of course," Luna said, flipping a page. She too was wearing glasses, her signature red scribblers, [A's N: I don't know if "scribblers" are a genuine type of glasses. Just roll with it for now.] her mane pulled back into a ponytail so it was out of her face.

Celestia pushed her own hair away. "You're right," she agreed, then silently plunged back into an uncomfortable diagram of the draconequus reproductive system.

It felt strange to be reviewing someone she might have had feelings for's anatomy, and even stranger to be plotting how to kill them. It felt like betrayal, when really, it was Discord who had marched into their castle and demanded to corule Equestria.

_Where did he get those chaos powers of his? Where does he come from? The Hollow Mountains of the West, where the dragons dwell?_

She decided to stop looking at Discord's *ahem* _reproductive system_ and look up possible origins of chaos magic. It wasn't really required for fighting Discord should it come down to that, but it would be useful to know. So she headed for the library.

Celestia roamed the stacks for a bit before finding the library's well-worn copy of _Equestria and Beyond: Guide to Magic and Sorcery_ by E. Maneson IV. She took it back to the office, where Luna had just finished up the last of the paperwork and was leafing through _The Essential Sword_, by V. Iolent.

"I thought it would be good to read up on chaos magic," Celestia said, holding up the Guide, and Luna nodded, then mimed the "Parry Thrust" with an invisible rapier. Celestia was well up on all the moves listed in _The Essential Sword_.

She sat down and opened the Guide to the introduction. _Strange_, she thought. _The introduction is before the table of contents. Likely this book is to be used as reference, or a textbook_.

In a flowy script, the introduction read:

_Welcome to your guide on sorcery and magic not only in Equestria, but beyond, in such reaches as the Crystal Empire and the East and West Hollow Mountains (though not much is known about the magics of changelings nor dragons). This guide will direct you through the history of magic, and conclude with types of magic, including Regular Unicorn, Ancient Alicorn, Potions and other Earth Pony Magics, Foreign and Other magics, and Dark Magic, the latter of which has been properly censored to prevent use of such horrible and wicked magics._

Turning the page to the table of contents, Celestia was able to find the section on foreign and other magics, and promptly found Chaos Magic.

_Chaos magic is a very unknown type of magic, as it comes from the Hollow Mountains of the East, where dragons dwell. Such magic is known to inhabit dragons and turn them into draconequus, beings that appear a mixture of many different animals, thus becoming the embodiment of Chaos. It is said every thousand years there is a chance of a natural draconequus being born, and the Chaos magic will inhabit it from its old owner when it comes of appropriate age. It is said, however, that once a natural-born draconequus gains Chaos magic, it becomes immortal. The accuracy of this statement is not verified._

_Chaos Magic is characterized by disrupting the perfect balance of things, such as turning ground and grass to strange, pony-made patterns, an example of which is black and white tiles. Chaos magic can manipulate the color of the sky, and can override Celestial Alicorns' power over the sun and moon, and can also mutate living beings. Much study is needed in this area of magic. The only known remedy to this sort of magic is the fabled Elements of Harmony that grow from the Tree of Harmony, whose whereabouts have been lost to the ages._

_Elements of Harmony?_ Celestia remembered her mother telling her about them when she was just a young filly, wide-eyed and believing. Queen Galaxia had told her about the brightly colored gems that grew on the crystal tree and kept harmony and chaos in balance. There was the red gem for loyalty, the orange for honesty, blue for laughter, purple for generosity, the green for kindness, and the magenta for magic.

"Where are they? Can we find them?" Celestia had asked excitedly, her mind already gallivanting off on a great adventure.

Her mother smiled sadly. "When your father and I found the sapling in the Crystal Empire, when your aunt Emeralda called us there to decide what to do with it. We planted it in a safer place, but a century ago, Emeralda said that the crystal tree and its budding Elements had gone. Whether it had been stolen or moved by its own magic nopony knows, but it is not in the Crystal Empire any longer."

Celestia sighed at the memory. She missed her mother sometimes. Running a kingdom was hard, and she now knew why her mother never seemed to have any time for her. She had been busy running the kingdom alongside her father.

"Luna, come look at this," Celestia said, gesturing Luna over. The book had a rough drawing of the Elements of Harmony on the tree, looking ripe for the picking.

"What's that?" Luna asked. Celestia was puzzled.

"Didn't Mother ever tell you about the Elements of Harmony?" Celestia asked her. Luna shook her head.

"Mother never really paid any attention to me," Luna said, with a trace of bitterness in her voice. "And Father was only concerned with my lessons. But anyway," she said. "What are the Elements of Harmony?" Her eyes scanned the passage on Chaos magic.

When she was done, she looked to Tia. "Well? What are the Elements of Magic?"

"Harmony," Tia corrected. "The tree came into being at around the same time as Chaos magic, to balance harmony and chaos. It was a crystal sapling who had five branches, each with five buds, and a bud growing right out of the center. Over time, Mother said, the buds began to unfurl and reveal the gems, or the Elements of Harmony, and the Element in the center grew a hard star-shaped covering over it. But before anypony could do anything with it, the tree vanished."

"Weird. So we should go find these Elements, just in case Discord proves too powerful?" Luna's face was a mask of grim determination.

Celestia shook her head. "Killing him should be the last resort. I think we should try and see what the Elements do to him before we act with our swords."

Luna nodded. "I'll get my things," she said. "Are we setting out today?"

"Yes. I'll have the chef make us some HLTs," Celestia said, and the sisters galloped off in opposite directions.


	18. Chapter 18

It was a horrific sight.

After a couple days of searching around the rural areas of Equestria, the sisters had returned to Ponyville to check through the one, the only,

EVERFREE FOREST.

Well, at least they would have, if Ponyville hadn't been turned upside down. Literally.

Instead of grass and dirt, Ponyville's ground was now a black and white square checkerboard pattern. Houses floated in the air, turned nearly upside down or tilted 120 degrees. The Town Hall itself was being assaulted by red-eyed beavers floating up in the air with it. Rabbits with legs longer than Celestia was tall with hooves stampeded through the marketplace. Cotton candy clouds rained chocolate milk upon the inhabitants of the small town. Cornfields were drowned underneath mounds of popcorn. The sun and moon kept rotating back and forth in the sky.

"Gaah!" Luna cried. "It's chaos!"

Tia knew what she had to do.

She had been looking for forever, it seemed.

Luna had stayed behind in Ponyville to help the citizens and keep Discord's chaos magic from spreading.

Celestia had been wandering the Everfree Forest for a while. It was strangely quiet-no Timberwolves nor other dangerous Everfree Forest creatures had appeared since she had blasted that patch of poison joke out of her path.

She had been wandering for hours and hours now, only going back to the Castle once for lunch. Then she'd set out again with her pack of snacks and water, and some basic survival things like a book of matches and some water-purifying iodine. Just in case, right?

It was lonely out in the woods, not to mention creepy, but Celestia didn't allow it to get to her. She was now heading for a clearing in the trees that she'd spotted whilst doing a quick sweep of the EF from the sky. It had tired her quite a lot-flying with her solid earth pony bones was difficult.

She was just about to reach the clearing when she heard the growling, and a timberwolf suddenly sprang from the shadows.

Celestia acted fast, almost before she had time to think. Using her magic to break off a heavy branch from a nearby tree, she swung it at the beast. Apparently not expecting it, it took the blow full in the face and splintered into a sad pile of twigs.

More growling came from behind Celestia, and she whirled around. She would have caught the second timberwolf with her branch if it hadn't jumped out of the way. It growled again, its yellow eyes glowing menacingly.

It lunged for Celestia, and she was forced to drop her branch and do a backflip. _Save your wings for later_, Celestia told herself. They tired her too much when she used them.

She tried to pick her branch back up, but a Timberwolf knocked it away. She would have used her magic to pick it up, but then a Timberwolf lunged on her horn and was instantly impaled.

Squealing a little, Celestia flung the mangled mess of sticks off her horn into another Timberwolf, and was able to reach the branch and knock over the remaining two into some prickly bushes.

She didn't wait for them to get up and at her. She just ran blindly in a random direction.

Run, run, run...she could hear their snarls, their hot breath on her back...

She was thinking only of escaping them when she fell down the stairs.

Conk, kink, kin, conk! As if she were in a cartoon, she fell down, down, down the stairs, stairs that she didn't think should have been there in the first place where was she, why were there stairs in the Everfree Forest?

She got up and looked around.

She could see the long line of stairs she'd fallen down-she didn't appear to have sustained any damage. She had fallen in some kind of giant crater in the ground.

Then she turned around.

There, before her, was a crystal tree.

Or at least it looked like one. It was blue and nearly translucent, and looked hard enough to be crystal, not wood. It was slightly crooked and gnarled, but it was beautiful in its own way. It had eleven branches, five of which were larger and more prominent because of the turquoise vines on them. And on each of these five branches were gems. One orange, one blue, one red, one purple, and one yellow. Everything seemed to have pall cast over it, though, as if the Tree of Harmony was asleep and needed to be woken.

On the trunk, in the center of the area where the branches came off the trunk was a crooked white six-pointed star.

Celestia walked up to it cautiously, skirting around the various round, blackish rocks in two curving piles on either side of the tree. Taking a deep breath, she pressed her hoof to the tree.

Nothing happened.

Was this the Tree of Harmony? It didn't look like much, all gloomy and sad. The only redeeming quality about it were the five gems, and even they seemed faded, dusty.

She flew up to the farthest gem on the left and tried to pry it out. Nothing- it was stuck fast. So were the other four.

_Well, now we're in a pickle_, Celestia thought. _This might be the Tree of Harmony but there's no way to tell. Maybe I should bring Luna here. Maybe she can figure it out._ Noting the location of the hollow where the strange tree resided, Celestia flew off towards Ponyville.


	19. Chapter 19

_Bam! Crack! Splinter!_

Celestia was fighting off some more timberwolves. Again.

As much as she hated to admit it, she had gotten lost. After a few minutes of flying, she'd settled down by the base of a large, tall tree to eat a quick snack of a bag of chips and a glass bottle of Canterlot Cola, a new, revolutionary fizzy drink that was quickly becoming popular. She was just packing up her trash and things into her saddlebags when she heard the growling again.

Of course, she'd thought she would be able to hold her own, but she'd underestimated how tired she was from flying and the journey overall.

Soon it wasn't her who had the upper hoof (paw? Did timberwolves' hooves count as paws? They were technically canines, right?), but rather the group of four timberwolves. They'd backed her up against the tall tree she'd had her chips and Cola next to and she was getting very tired. Using her regular magic didn't tire her at all, but the timberwolves simply dodged whatever she used to knock them away. The only way she could keep them off her was using Ancient Alicorn, which tired her every time she knocked them back.

She slumped against the tree. _No, no, I can't go out like this!_ Her thoughts were buzzing around like bees, annoying little bees that were flooding out of her head and into her legs, flying into her ribcage and choking her so that she couldn't breathe, buzzing: _No, no, no, no, no, no, no..._ and _Princess of Equestria! Princess of Equestria!_

_Hush_, Celestia thought sleepily as she cast a weak ripelldym Ancient Alicorn spell-she couldn't think of any that would actually get rid of the timberwolves. She couldn't use hiye hiya, either, she was just that weak.

Celestia mentally shot smoke among the bees in her body and they fell asleep. She regained a little of her strength, but she couldn't seem to find it in herself to think of a good AA spell or do anything, really. It was so comfortable next to this big, steady tree anyway. It would be okay if she just...rested...awhile...

A great, hoarse _caw!_ pierced the air, and suddenly everything seemed to be on fire. It was shaped like a bird, and was falling from the sky onto the timberwolves and setting them on fire.

Was she hallucinating? She must have been, because one of the timberwolves slammed into the tree trunk. Celestia was able to groan and slip down just before it rammed into her face.

She was about to close her eyes and wait for the end when a great shudder shook the tree. The mighty fire-bird (Celestia was sure now that it was actually a bright orange-gold-red bird) cawed, alarmed, as it set the last of the timberwolves on fire, getting rid of them for good. But the tree kept shuddering, leaves raining down on Celestia's face.

She somehow found the strength to get up, but before she could get a good look at her bird savior, a nest fell from the sky.

The fire-bird was too far away to catch it, but it still tried anyway, flying towards the tree with a desperate look in its eyes. It missed, however, as the nest was dropping faster and faster-it had to swerve to avoid the tree- another fire-bird was trying to fly down but it was too slow-the nest was full of eggs-it was about to hit the ground-

Celestia caught it.

Not using her arms, of course. Using her magic, she managed to safely stop the eggs from falling to the ground and gently set them on the ground. Her fire-bird hero flew around the tree, calling in distress when it saw the nest on the ground, but saw that the eggs appeared to be sound.

Its mate finally landed, and together the birds checked over the four large eggs tucked together in the nest made of smudgy burnt black sticks. And suddenly Celestia remembered the fire-birds' names.

"You're phoenixes," she said in awe.

She didn't know phoenixes lived in Ponyville's region. She thought they only lived near volcanoes. At least, that was what the Book of Magical Creatures in Canterlot Castle's library said.

Celestia watched in horror as the orange eggs, with their flame-like design, split right down the middle to reveal: a pile of ashes.

The adult phoenixes, however, looked thrilled, cawing excitedly and flapping their wings. The one with the less showier plumage, the female, Celestia assumed, and her bird-savior, looked at Celestia and cocked its head, as if saying: "Aren't you going to come watch?"

Cautiously, Celestia slipped off her saddlebags to make her look like less of a threat and carefully neared the nest. Neither phoenix flinched or looked particularly alarmed about her closeness as the tiny piles of ashes swirled up in the air.

"Wow!" Celestia said before she could stop herself. Then she covered her mouth, fearing that just the sound of her voice would ruin the hatching.

The swirls of ashes congealed into four small roughly triangle-shaped bundles and spun into a smaller shape. Then a bright flash blinded Celestia, and the next thing she knew, there were four adorable yellow-orange phoenix chicks in the nest.

Three of them were already crawling to their mother, cheeping for food, and the father flew off to get some while the mother reassured them. But the fourth was looking at Celestia curiously, and crawled towards her instead.

"Hi, little one," Celestia said, thrilled to have witnessed a magnificent phoenix hatching. She pointed a hoof towards the female phoenix, who was so occupied with her three new children she didn't even notice the stray. "There's your mother."

Celestia nudged the stray a little towards the mother, but it wouldn't budge, instead deciding to let out a very annoying bawling sound, similar to that of its siblings. Celestia picked it up and plopped it beside its mother. But it just crawled over to Celestia again and resumed bawling.

"Oh, for stars' sake," Celestia said. She looked to the mother phoenix, who had noticed the stray. The mother waddled over and tried to get the stray to move over by its three siblings, but the stray wouldn't move, and instead nipped the mother.

The mother cawed indignantly, then looked resignedly at Celestia, who instantly knew what she meant.

"No! No way! I don't know how to take care of a phoenix," Celestia protested, but the father had returned with food, and had brought back four juicy worms. One he swallowed, the other he set aside, and the other two he broke into four pieces and fed to his children. He had an extra piece however, which he gave to Celestia. The mother, looking relieved, swallowed the set aside worm whole.

"What? You want me to feed it?" Celestia asked the father. He nodded and moved the bit of worm closer to Celestia and the phoenix chick with his beak.

Celestia looked at the stray, who was looking up at her expectantly, pink, dull gold beak wide open. It seemed to be whining faintly, but wasn't being as annoying as its siblings.

Celestia sighed and picked up the worm. "Fine," she said, plopping the bit of worm into the stray's gob. She looked at the phoenix parents. "But don't blame me if your child dies."

The female gave her a wolfish grin, which looked funny on a bird. Then she picked up one of her young and nestled it into the feathers on it's father's back.

"Hey-what...?" Celestia asked, confused, as the male lifted the last two chicks onto the female's back. "What...?"

The great fire-colored birds took flight in a blaze of red and orange glory.

"Hey! Come back!" Celestia scooped the stray into her saddlebags and followed the parents.

It was no use. They were already out of sight.

"Darn you, you little stray," Celestia said, landing back down and looking at the stray in her saddlebags. "I guess you'll have to come with me."


	20. Chapter 20

"Ah! Here it is. 'Phoenix chicks imprint very easily, and imprints are very hard to remove. This is the why phoenixes are so loyal to their family, but phoenixes can also imprint on any other being they first set eyes on at hatching.'"

"Thanks, Luna," Celestia said gratefully, tapping her sister's horn with her own. "I didn't just bring a phoenix chick home though...I believe I found the Tree of Harmony!"

"Really? Did you get the Elements of Harmony?" Luna asked, weary from commanding the Canterlot Army troops to evacuate Ponyville's citizens.

"I...no..you have to be there," Celestia confessed. "I haven't the slightest how to get the Elements."

"Well. The forces will hold. Let's go," Luna said wearily. "This is a fight that we will not win ourselves."

Off they went, two sisters, side-by-side in the sky, to save the world.

"Well, this is a pretty pickle. I can't figure it out. I'm pretty sure it's the tree, though." Luna inspected the base of the tree, while Celestia had another look around the tree.

"What should we do?" Celestia asked.

"Hold on." Luna blew on a spot near the dusty white star. "Tia, look! Your cutie mark!"

The sun shape on the tree was, indeed, very similar to Celestia's cutie mark, but it was less detailed and the center was larger. Luna blew just under the sun to reveal a crescent similar to Luna's cutie mark.

"Whoa!" Luna touched her hoof to her cutie mark on the tree. "But how do we get the Elements?"

"Hmm," Celestia said. "Maybe-" she pressed her hoof to her cutie mark on the tree.

A glow radiated from the tree, filling the hollow and dazzling Celestia's eyes.

The vines and signs of neglect flew off the tree, just missing the princesses, to reveal a luminous, light violet and blue crystal tree, The five main branches with the now-sparkling gems on them dripped with the turquoise vines now strung with luminous discs, giving the whole tree an elegant look.

And in the middle of the tree was that luminous, lovely white six-pointed star, with Celestia and Luna's cutie marks faintly printed just underneath.

"Whoa..." Celestia said, as the light faded and she could see the tree's details better. "It's beautiful..."

"Yes, but where are the Elements? We need those elements to get rid of Discord!" Luna was frustrated. "What do they look like, anyway?"

"They're these gems," Celestia said quietly, flying up and using magic to try and pry the purple one off. It came off with almost no resistance. Celestia plucked the yellow one off as well, and Luna picked the blue and red ones off.

"I'm guessing this blue one is laughter," Luna said, pulling out the legend book where the sisters had found the reference to the long-lost Elements of Harmony. "And this red one is loyalty. Your purple one is generosity, and the yellow is kindness."

"Isn't there six of them? Where's the fifth? And the sixth?" Celestia asked.

"This one's still here. Orange for honesty." Luna flew up and pried the orange Element off. "But where-"

No sooner had Luna removed the Element of Honesty did the tree begin to glow again, this time from the star in the center. As the princesses looked on in awe, the star in the center opened up, and out floated a magenta gem. But it wasn't gem-shaped like the other Elements. It was shaped like a six-pointed star.

Suddenly the glow faded, and the star in the center of the tree closed. Celestia managed to catch the Element of Magic before it fell to the ground.

The sisters were silent for a time. Then Luna said: "Well. I guess we have the Elements now.

"Yes, but the question is-how do we use them?" Celestia studied the Element of Magic carefully. "Luna, check the book."

Luna quickly flipped through the book about the Elements. "It says here that when there is an imbalance of harmony in Equestria, the power of the Elements becomes stronger when they get to the source of the imbalance and will glow. When the Elements are sufficiently close to the source of imbalance, they will seek the nearest unicorn channeler, and the unicorn will cast the spell that will vanquish the source of imbalance."

Celestia nodded grimly. "Do you know what that means?"

"I'm almost afraid to ask," Luna said.

Before they could face Discord, they had to make preparations. It wasn't sure that the Elements would work (nothing else had), so the sisters had to gear up. Armor. Weapons. Last-minute training with the Head of the Royal Guard. Some quick review of the most vulnerable spots on a draconequus.

All the while, Celestia felt a mixture of sadness, anger, and betrayal. Here she was, gearing up to go fight someone she considered her friend...and maybe more.

Suddenly something inside her broke. Almost everypony she cherished, almost everypony she loved...her mother, her father, and now her old friend...dead...gone..."I can't. I can't do it," she sobbed, flinging off her armor and running away.

"Tia?! Come back!" Luna cried, running after her sister.

"I can't do it! We can't kill him," Celestia gasped, tears pouring down her face. "He's my friend!"

"Oh, Tia, not anymore!" Luna flung her arms around her sister. "Tia, you know it's not him. He's changed too much."

"I can't! I can't stand it!" Celestia sobbed. All these years Luna had seen her sister as the perfect princess-stoic expression, stiff upper lip-this was a side of her she'd never seen before, and it confused her.

"Shh," Luna whispered, stroking Celestia's mane gently. "We don't have to go today. You don't have to go."

"I must...but I can't..." Celestia whispered.

"Remember what Mother told you?" Luna said as she felt her sister calming down.

"No..." Celestia said, her voice a hush.

"I'll remind you," Luna said. "Even if you must lose what is dearest to you, you must do it to save Equestria."

"Must I...?" Celestia said, then was silent. She'd fallen asleep.

And the two princesses lay there, a pile in the corridor. One asleep, and one wondering.


	21. Chapter 21

"Princess Luna! The draconequus has extended his...territory. He's expanding towards Canterlot!"

"What?!" Luna turned towards the guard who had delivered the message. "Canterlot? While we're not there? The fiend! Ti-I mean, Princess Celestia and I will be ready in the morning."

The guard nodded respectfully and left. It was almost dusk, and Luna had ordered dinner for herself and her sister in Celestia's room. Celestia had not yet woken up, but when Luna returned, she was sitting up in bed, looking disoriented.

"What happened to Discord? Did I faint?" Celestia asked, her voice slurred by sleep.

Luna stepped into Celestia's bedroom, where her sister lay on her ruglike purple bed, shutting the door behind her carefully. "You fell asleep, I believe," Luna said.

"What time is it?" asked Celestia. Luna bit her lip.

"Uh, dusk," Luna said. "It's almost time for...but don't..."

Celestia gasped. "It's nearly time for the sun to set! Come, Luna!" Staggering to her hooves, Celestia ran off.

"...strain yourself," Luna sighed and followed after her sister.

When Luna got to the throne room, Celestia was already raising the sun, with varying degrees of success.

"Tia! You're sweating bullets," Luna said, concerned. Celestia just kind of groaned, strained with the effort of lowering the sun. Usually lowering the sun was easier for Celestia than raising it, but today Celestia was unusually weak.

She made it, however, and went back to her room to have her meal while Luna raised the moon and aligned the stars, placing her parents' right up next to the moon like she always did-one on one side and one on the other. She'd forgotten which star was her father and which was her mother, but she knew it was them.

When she got back to Tia's room, a food cart held a set of silverware and a covered plate. Tia was already half-done with hers.

"It's veggie stew today," Tia said, munching. "With barley gravy."

"I'm glad to see you out and about," Luna said, levitating her food off the tray. She uncovered her dish and dug into the stew.

"Ugh. Did you...did you take care of...him?" Celestia asked, her voice breaking on "him".

"No. In fact, he's...he's extended his chaos territory." Luna winced as Celestia snapped to attention.

"What?! I thought...oh, this is awful. We should set out at once!" Celestia declared, a smudge of gravy on her cheek. Luna levitated a napkin and wiped it off for her, then had her lie down again.

"Don't, Tia. It can wait until tomorrow. You've been through too much today." Celestia sighed and laid her head on her pillow. To Luna's surprise, another tear made its way down her sister's cheek.

"I can't take it," Celestia said. "I know it's for the good of the kingdom, but I lov-liked him so much," Celestia said, sighing again and rolling over. She hadn't finished her vegetable stew.

"Come on, Tia, finish your dinner," Luna begged, nudging her sister.

"No, I'm not hungry any more. Put it on the cart." Mournfully, Luna covered Tia's dish again and placed it on the food cart.

"Do you want to sleep? It's awfully early," Luna said. She had to get to her night watching, but she didn't want to leave her sister alone if she wasn't going to be asleep.

Celestia didn't reply, instead she gave a soft snore. Smiling a little to herself, Luna put the dinner dishes away on the food cart and left, pushing the cart along before her.

As soon as the door closed behind Luna, Celestia's head snapped up. Carefully, so as not to make a sound, she got up and walked over to her window. Phillimena, who now had her own stand, was a puffy little ball. She cawed sleepily when Celestia passed her, but didn't make a sound when Celestia hushed her.

Flinging open her windows, Celestia looked out at the vast Everfree Forest. _It's so lonely, so desolate,_ Celestia thought as a breeze ruffled her mane. _Just like I am._

Then Phillimena squawked softly, and Celestia's thoughts pulled back. _You're not alone. You've got your sister. Luna._

At this Celestia smiled. Where would she be without her little sister? Lost, that was for sure. Taking care of a kingdom sounded like a frightening prospect without Luna by her side.

For a moment, Celestia felt warm and happy. She'd leave her perch on the windowsill, close the window, draw the curtains, and have a nice, restful sleep.

But she didn't do that. Slowly Celestia frowned. The Castle suddenly felt stifling. She was the prisoner, the Castle the jail. And out there, her citizens were being HERE START HERE and she had to get away. So, spreading her wings, she pushed off from the windowsill and took off into the night.

As she left, a breeze ruffled the curtains, and Phillimena fell asleep.

Late at night, bright flashes of light came from Ponyville, and everybody in the Castle of the Two Sisters stirred in their sleep.

The next morning at breakfast Luna noticed her sister seemed haggard, as if she hadn't had enough sleep, and seemed unlike herself because of it.

"Tia, you look positively gray with exhaustion," Luna declared. "I'll take care of your duties-you get some rest."

"Yes. You do that," Celestia said bad-temperedly, slurping her tea loudly. Even a few of the servants serving the breakfast looked surprised.

"You are really out of sorts," Luna said, really taken aback now. "You go on now, I'll be sure not to mess everything up like _last_ time," she said, chuckling awkwardly. Celestia didn't say a word, instead stabbing an egg with her fork.

The two sisters spent the rest of the breakfast in silence. Afterwards, Celestia stalked directly out of the breakfast room without helping the servants gather the dishes like she usually did. Luna, who usually did not, was forced to clear a plate or two to make up for what Celestia usually did.

_She's really out of sorts today,_ Luna thought as she, too, walked away from the breakfast room, a full fifteen minutes after her sister had. _I'll forgive her. Poor Tia._

Luna could not, however, pin the rest of the day's events on Tia's anxiety. Not once did she bring up the problem with Discord, and the advance was forced back another day. Celestia spent the entire day in her room, barking orders at the servants, taking lunch and dinner in her room, and scoffed at Luna's suggestion to maybe take Phillimena and Black Thunder, a rare type of phoenix called a nocturne phoenix, out. She refused and slammed the door in Luna and Black Thunder's faces.

"I'm sorry, Black Thunder. You know that Tia's usually so much more cheerful," Luna said sadly, stroking her phoenix's feathers as the two walked away from Celestia's door.

The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully, but in the evening Luna received an interesting report.

"There are ponies, princess," the guard said, worried, "that have been acting strangely. Exactly the opposite of what they're usually like. Furthermore, their coats are grayish, dull. Nopony knew what to make of it until a unicorn converted her friend back using her memories of who she used to be. It sounds doubtful, Princess, but many ponies have been converted back in this manner."

"Really? What is the cause of this strange condition?" Luna asked, intrigued. This sounded a lot like what Celestia had.

"It's just a hunch, but many believe it comes from contact with Discord. All of the ponies remember talking to or being pursuaded by Discord, either directly or indirectly, and then they became...well, the citizens are calling the condition 'being discorded'."

"Ah," Luna said, disappointed. So it wasn't what Tia had. The symptoms were strikingly similar, but Celestia hadn't had any recent contact with Discord. Perhaps Luna had imagined Tia's grayish color. And she'd be over her foul mood by tomorrow, Luna assured herself.


	22. Chapter 22

But the next morning, Celestia was in no better of a mood, and Luna was definitely sure that her mane and coat were grayed out, faded.

"Tia? Are you feeling better today?" Luna asked.

"No!" Tia hissed. "My back is sore and my head hurts, but I wouldn't expect you to understand."

Luna reeled back, shocked. This wasn't her sister! Tia wouldn't be so nasty, even if she was in the foulest of moods.

Luna shut and locked the door behind her, then advanced upon the not-Tia. "You know, Tia," she said, "You've been very...different lately."

"Oh yeah? Well, take a gander why," Celestia scoffed, laying her head on her pillow.

"I know the trouble with Discord's been tearing you up, but this isn't the right way to go about it," Luna said. "Every day, he gains more ground, and the citizens are depending upon us to rescue them from his tyranny."

Something in Celestia's eyes softened, and Luna dared to hope when Celestia spoke.

"Oh...Discord...my one and only love," she said dreamily, eyes glazed. Luna, shocked, listened in horror at her next words.

"I snuck out the day before last, you know," Celestia said, her tone mocking. "You didn't even notice! I went to find my handsome, charming Discord...I think...to put an end to him?" Celestia's glazed eyes flickered, then returned to its dreamy state. "But why would I do that? Anyway, I came to see his reasoning. He's just what Equestria needs. I have no love for these foolish ponies, anyway," Celestia said derisively.

"But you love our subjects, Tia," Luna begged, her worst fears confirmed. "You must know what Discord's doing to them."

Celestia shrugged. "What do I care? Discord loves me. Last night I went to see him again...oh, such a night of breathless passion it was..." Celestia said, collapsing onto her bed with a contented sigh. "Anyway, whatever those fool ponies get was coming to them. I care not for their struggles." Celestia looked out of her window at the bright sky and shining sun.

"Celestia, I thought you'd gotten over your...crush," Luna said hesitatingly. "You went out to meet him?"

"Oh, I believe at the time I was thinking something foolish, like putting an end to him or something," Celestia said carelessly. "But Discord's all-powerful, and there was nothing I could do. I didn't want to, anyway. I knew it was still him underneath the grandeur and fancy magic."

"Look, Tia, this isn't you," Luna said. "I know it isn't. You're patient and funloving and kindhearted and regal. You're always hinting at things, giving clues, and you're always so playful, joking and relaxing your subjects. The servants have been goose-stepping around you since yesterday after your appalling behavior at breakfast! They know something's up, Tia, and it's time that I realized that too."

Tia scoffed. "None of you matter, anyway. Discord and I will live happily ever after, together forever."

Luna pinned her sister on the ground. "No, you won't!" she cried. "You know he's a tyrant! He's not the Discord you knew. He's different!" She pointed her horn at her sister and thought of when they were little, how Tia exploded Luna's cake and Tia's face when hers exploded. Their first formal dress fitting-how they twirled around in silks and lace and shiny things, their nightly conditioning and glitterifying treatments for their mane and tail...giggling and fooling around...

"Hurk..." Celestia groaned, as the grayish color drained from her head to the tips of her hooves

"Oh, my..." Celestia said, blinking. "What...what happened?"

"It's...a long story." Quickly Luna blurted out everything that had happened since yesterday.

"Oh stars...I shouldn't have tried to go alone," Celestia said. "How will I look everybody in the face?"

"We'll tell them. They'll understand," Luna said.

"I hope you're right," Celestia said.

As they walked out of the room, the servants gave Celestia either a wary or a resentful voice. The two sisters went to the head butler's room.

"Princess Luna! How good to-oh. Princess Celestia." The head butler grimaced.

"Oh, Sharp Suit! I'm so sorry," Celestia said, pulling him into a hug. "I'm so sorry I've been so nasty! It was Discord's fault...I went to find him, and he..."

"Discorded you? Of course! I should have known!" Sharp Suit said, slowly smiling. He reached for a bell pull. "I'll tell the staff. We've missed you, Princess."

The bell rang throughout the castle, and the staff assembled in the throne hall. When Princess Celestia appeared, there were murmurs and grumbles. Then Luna told them all what happened, and everypony seemed satisfied with the explanation. Pushing past Luna, they crowded around Celestia, clamoring excitedly.

Luna felt the slightest twinge of anger as she watched a bashful Celestia try to calm her staff down, but quickly pushed it away. "All right, all right," she said, smiling. "Princess Celestia and I have something to accomplish."

"Right," Celestia said as the staff melted away into the castle. "We've got a draconequus to take care of." Even with her mussed-up mane and tail, Celestia looked as regal and as brave as ever.

Luna smiled. Now that was her sister. "You bet," she said.


	23. Chapter 23

"Elements of Harmony?" Luna asked, her voice unsteady.

"Check," Tia said, nudging open the flap of her saddlebag. She had the Element of Magic, the Element of Kindness, and the Element of Generosity.

"Ch-ch-check," Luna said shakily. "My God, I've got to calm down," she chattered as she checked for the Element of Loyalty, Element of Honesty, and Element of Laughter.

"We're good, then," Celestia said. She waved to a nearby servant. "Could you please get my sister a thermos of tea? Maybe something calming, like chamomile." The servant nodded and went off.

"Are you sure we shouldn't go with some protection? Swords, or even our armor maybe?" Luna asked hopefully, one last time.

Celestia shook her head. "You know none of that will work against Discord. He'll turn them into curtain rods or something."

Luna scoffed. "Curtain rods," she muttered. "Curtain rods!"

"Or candy canes," Celestia said, in an attempt at a joke.

"Hmph," Luna said. But Tia saw her tuck away a smile before she turned away.

After being given an enthusiastic goodbye from their staff, the two princesses set out. The Everfree Forest seemed as untouched as ever.

"It doesn't look so bad," Luna said, as the sisters followed their clear-cut path to Ponyville through the overgrown forest.

"This is the Everfree Forest," Celestia said. "It's magic comes from another world. It would be unaffected by our world's magic."

"Still, it's...kind of comforting," Luna said. "He's not powerful enough to conquer the Everfree Forest yet."

Celestia shuddered. "I don't think anything could ever be powerful to conquer the Everfree Forest."

"Well, Dad built our castle," Luna said.

"That's hardly conquering," Celestia pointed out.

"It was a start," Luna said.

Celestia nodded. She knew Luna idolized their father-their mother had never paid more than a passing interest in her lunar filly. She had been too preoccupied with her celestial daughter.

As the the sisters followed the rough dirt path, almost overtaken by the Everfree Forest, Celestia allowed herself to dwell on her parents. It had been nearly centuries since they had died, and shot into the sky to join the ancient alicorns who had passed into extinction long, long ago...

Both Tia and Luna knew that their mother carried a heavier responsibility than their father, as Tia did with Luna. Their father had always loved their mother unconditionally, but with their mother, it was harder to tell. A formidable domineering matriarch, it was hard to tell that their mother had any feelings at all except for frustration and satisfaction.

For example, the sisters had only seen their mother cry twice in their lifetimes. Once, privately, in her room, after she had to suffer through the horrible, horrible day when the Renegades attacked, the forerunners of the organization Ponies Against the Crown.

The second, when she miscarried a foal before Luna. Luna had been very young when the Renegades attacked, and she and Tia had been hidden away in the Safety Room in Canterlot Castle, the location of which only the royals knew. Celestia had been the only one to see her mother crying after the miscarriage, obviously because Luna had not been born yet. She didn't even know if her father had seen it. Her mother certainly hadn't noticed her in the corner, watching quietly as tears poured down the Queen of Equestria's face.

"There it is-oh my stars," Luna gasped.

Checkerboard grass, tutued buffaloes prancing across the landscape, buildings hung suspended and upside down, entire sharp cone-shaped pieces of land ripped out from the ground with cottages still perched on top, pigs flying with pink wings...

"It's...it's chaos!" Celestia cried. Luna gave her the eye.

"What? Sorry," Celestia said sheepishly. "It's the truth."

"Let's just go," Luna mumbled, and the two sisters charged forward, leaving the safety of the Everfree Forest and trotting along the pink checkerboard grass towards Ponyville.

It didn't take long for them to get to the pink arched bridge over the river separating Ponyville from the Everfree Forest. Carefully they passed underneath the suspended Town Hall, and before them they could see a large gray-silver throne with two large red gemstones and red upholstery. The silver part at the top had swirling designs, and two large antlers sprouted from the top, making the whole thing look a lot like an enraged buck's open-mouthed head.

A massive triangular structure made of put-together triangles of playing cards stood by while a stampede of long-legged, hooved bunnies ran by. A pink cotton candy cloud rushed past, sprinkling chocolate milk on fields of popped corn.

"Hey, those pink clouds look a lot like your mane, Tia," Luna said. Celestia bit her lip and shook out her limp pink mane a little. "Don't," she warned her sister. "I want to stay focused."

"Fine, fine," Luna said. "I guess that wasn't quite appropriate of me."

"Darn right it wasn't. And besides, how is mine any worse than your mane?" Tia teased her sister. Luna stuck her tongue out at her, flicking a piece of her blue-violet, equally limp mane out of her eyes. Even in such a grave situation, the sisters could still laugh and be foals again.

But quickly they reined themselves in as a ragged pony ran up to them. "Your Highness! Your Highness!" the unicorn cried, running up to Celestia. "Oh thank goodness you're here..." He bowed deeply.

"Um..." Celestia blushed slightly. He was completely ignoring her sister. Luna looked slightly cheesed off.

"Oh! Princess Luna. You're here as well," the unicorn said, in a bit of an unpleasant-sounding voice, but then he appeared to remember than he was speaking to another princess, as well. As if he had forgotten at first. "Your Highness, I can't even say how glad I am that you're here too-"

_Nice save,_ Tia thought as her sister looked mollified and smiled graciously. "We will...dispose of _him,_ good citizen. Remain safe for the time being," Luna said, a touch pompously.

"Yes, Your Highness. Oh, thank you, thank you ever so much." The unicorn ran off towards a cluster of still-intact cottages, where a small crowd of Ponyvilians were cautiously peeking out their doors, their faces lighting up with hope when they saw the princesses.

"Look at that," Luna muttered. The sun and moon appeared to be dancing together in some sort of weird cha-cha. The sisters had already tried to regain control of the sun and the moon, but to no avail. Neither celestial body would respond and just kept wildly streaking across the sky as Discord played them like puppets.

Suddenly a kind of sonic rumble went through the landscape as another herd of tutued buffaloes pranced across the landscape, and the ponies, frightened, ran back into their homes and slammed the doors, among them the unicorn who had approached the princesses.

Then they could see them. Ponies, their coats gray, wandered aimlessly throughout the clearing, acting exaggeratingly weird.

"This...isn't good," Luna said. Celestia frowned. "Is that how I was? When I was...Discorded?" she asked.

"Er...maybe not as...um, well..." Luna stuttered as Discord's throne drew even closer. The draconequus himself was nowhere in sight.

"Ugh," Celestia groaned. "He will _pay_ for this. He will _pay_."

"We should have brought weapons," Luna said. "Assuming the Elements don't take care of it for us."

"They're the Elements of Harmony. I don't think they'd do that, and whatever little the books say, is that that's not how they work."

"Hmph." Luna nudged the flap of her left saddlebag so that it flopped back down. Somehow it had been flipped up in between getting out of the Everfree Forest and meeting the unicorn stallion.

"Where could he be?" Celestia wondered out loud. "That's obviously his throne, right? Looks like he wanted to stay as close to our castle as possible, so he stayed in Ponyville."

"Must be," Luna said grimly. "Maybe he's off conquering somewhere else. That'll leave us time to try and figure out if we can reverse what he's done to this place."

But no sooner had the words left Luna's lips than the throne turned and the draconequus himself appeared. The throne spun back around.

"Oh-ho, this is _so_ much fun. How about a game of pin-the-tail-on- the-pony?" he asked mischieviously, holding up what looked suspiciously like Celestia's tailed.

Shocked, Celestia turned to look at her rump and gasped.

"Playtime is over for you, Discord," Celestia said as the two sisters walked up.

Suddenly Discord had a small bag of black seeds and was tossing them in his mouth, spilling most of them everywhere.

"Hungry?" he asked, offering the back and spilling even more seeds. A few hit the sisters on the face and forehead as they glared at Discord icily.

Discord looked temporarily disappointed. "Suit yourself," he said, eating some more seeds and spilling more.

Celestia had had enough. She opened the flap of her saddlebag and brought out the elements of Magic, Kindness, and Generosity. At the same time, Luna brought out the elements of Loyalty, Honesty, and Laughter. The two sisters floated them in a rough semicircle around and in front of them.

"Ohhh," Discord said, tossing his bag of seeds away. "What have you got there?"

"The Elements of Harmony," Celestia said, with her disgust showing in every syllable. The sisters began to whirl the elements around them, raising up their manes and tails. A pink spherical force field surrounded them. "With them we shall defeat you," Luna said sternly.

The draconequus doubled over laughing hysterically across his throne. "You should see yourselves right now," he said, giggling. "You look so intense, so sure of yourselves! Ha ha ha!"

The sisters put their horns together, and a bright light shone from the tips. A corkscrewing rainbow spiraled up into the sky, then came back down towards Discord's throne in a slow, calculating parabola as he cried: "Hilarious!"

He was still cackling wildly as the rainbow hit him and turned him into a statue of white stone.


	24. Chapter 24

The door creaked open. "Tia?" Luna asked quietly. "You shouldn't be eating so much of it. You'll either be too full for actual dinner or puke."

"Ah dun curr," sobbed Celestia. "Ah'll pooke mah guths ut if ah cuhn just et ahll thas."

"Oh, Tia," Luna sighed. "It wasn't him anymore. You of all ponies should know that. You knew him best, and you could tell."

"It was the chaos magic," Celestia sobbed as she she gulped down her current mouthful and spooned another into her mouth. "He inherited it, or whatever. I just...I didn't know that the Elements... I always hoped..."

"That they'd change him back to how he was before he got them? Tia, we don't know how he got his new powers, but they've changed him. Even if the Elements took away his powers, another draconequus would come along and use them to his benefit, and perhaps more brutally than Discord. And you know he'd never be the same as he was before he had his chaos powers."

"I-oh, I knew, I knew all along," Celestia sobbed. "I dared to hope- and look where I am now, stuffing myself with junk food and crying..." Celestia gestured with a sweeping hoof at the mess of her room.

Her rug bed was askew, with empty paper cartons of ice cream in stacks at the far end from the pillow. The heavy curtains behind the layer of sheer silk ones were drawn shut, casting the entire room into darkness and keeping Celestia's own sun out. Makeup and bottles of perfume and jewelry lay in haphazard piles on top of Celestia's dressing table. The closet was stuffed with wrinkled, some dirty, dresses and outfits. The floors were beginning to look grimy, as Celestia refused to let anybody but her sister in, not even a maid. The fireplace held charred logs and was smeared with ash everywhere, the poker shoved into one of said logs. A tapestry had fallen, crumpled on the floor.

This time, Luna had come prepared with a laundry hamper, a burlap garbage sack, a mop, and a bucket of warm soapy water. As she began putting the ice cream cartons into the rough burlap sack, she tried to calm her sister down.

"Tia, you know...it's not the end of the world. You can put him outside, or something," Luna said reassuringly.

"Who would want to see a big statue of a hated draconequus displayed in front of their princesses' castle? It'd look bad to whoever visited us," Celestia said. "Oh, I just don't know what to do."

Luna had finished picking up ice cream cartons and had begun to dig out Tia's dirty clothes from the closet and hang or fold and put away the clean ones. She thought very hard for a while, trying to come up with a strategic place for Discord's statue.

"You could...put it on a balcony somewhere," Luna suggested. "or a secret room. You could go and look at him whenever you wanted to."

"Too inconvenient," Celestia said, putting another freshly emptied carton of ice cream in the burlap garbage sack. "He's...not worth it, I'm afraid. If he was just in a place where I could glance at occasionally..." Celestia sighed and flopped back onto her bed.

Since Celestia only had a few special-occasion outfits that had only really been worn once or twice, Luna's job was soon done, and the laundry hamper and burlap sack was left outside.

"Have the maid bring me more ice cream," Celestia ordered, but Luna shook her head. "I think that's quite enough for you, sister," she said sternly.

Celestia groaned. "I feel awful anyway. Maybe it's for the best."

"Darn right it is." Luna had begun to mop Tia's floors. It was astonishing how quickly they got dirty when there were so little going and comings from Tia's room.

Celestia's floors weren't the only things that were dirty. Tia's mane was all knotted and starting to look a little greasy, and her coat was matted and stiff. A faint unpleasant smell rose from her and her rug bed.

Luna scrunched up her nose. After mopping all exposed parts of Tia's floor as best as she could, she went over to her sister's dressing table as Tia tried to nap. Carefully she organized all of it: capping, standing things up, untangling Tia's necklaces and bracelets and a few pairs of earrings. Finally she laid all of the jewelry carefully into Tia's white jewelry box with gold designs and a soft golden silk interior. Luna's jewelry box was swirled purple-violet-blue with a black velvet lining and constellation designs on the lid.

From a drawer in her dressing table, Luna unearthed Celestia's favorite shampoo, conditioner, and curry comb. Then, tiptoeing carefully around her gently snoring sister, she went out into the hall and called for a tub of hot bathwater.

When Celestia awoke, it was to a nice, clean, organized room with sunlight filtering in from the thin silk curtains. The now-clean fireplace crackled invitingly with a small fire, and the tapestry was smoothed out and hung back up. A lovely bathtub with a lid on it was set up on top of a waterproof tarp, and a small wooden side-table held Celestia's shampoo, conditioner, curry comb, a bar of soap, and a fluffy towel. A note tacked to the table read: "Take a bath, Tia. Ring the servants when you're done and they'll clean your bed. -Luna"

_Do I really smell that bad?_ Celestia wondered, and sniffed herself.

In a split second, the lid of the tub was off and she was soaking in the nice hot water. "Ahh." She breathed a sigh of relief and comfort. She hadn't bathed once in the week since Discord's defeat. In the last few days, she hadn't bothered to appear in front of her subjects.

After soaking for a bit, Celestia washed her mane and tail, then rinsed and conditioned. With the conditioner still in, she soaped up the curry comb and cleaned her coat.

The water was tepid and gray when Celestia finally wrung out her mane and tail and stepped out of the bathtub, drying herself with the towel. After that, she wrapped her mane in the towel and piled it up on her head. Walking over to the door of her room, she rang the bell to summon a servant.

They came surprisingly quickly-three unicorns, two mares and one a stallion. One mare levitated the tub of dirty bathwater away, while the other rolled up the tarp, took the shampoos and soaps off of the little table, and took away the table. The stallion took away Celestia's bed and pillow.

"Thank you!" she called after them, and they all replied cheerfully: "No need, Your Highness!"

Almost as soon as the servants left Celestia's room, her sister came back in, levitating a comb and a brush. "You look _much_ better, sister," Luna said, unraveling the mass of towel on her sister's head and unwrapping it from her mane. She hung it on the doorknob and began to brush her sister's mane.

"Thank you so much," Celestia sighed happily. "You have no idea how good that bath felt. And waking up to such a nice and clean room..."

"I know." Luna smirked. "You've been wallowing in your own filth for long enough. And our subjects miss you. You haven't appeared in public for four days."

"Oh, I _know_," Celestia said, ringing the servants' bell again.

"I've already told them not to get you ice cream no matter what," Luna said sternly.

"I'm getting some warm milk," Celestia said, mock-hurt. "With honey and stuff. For us."

Luna just rolled her eyes at her as she started on Celestia's tail.


	25. Chapter 25

Public speaking.

Luna had always been much, much better at using the Shout than Celestia had. Luna seemed to relish it, magnifying her voice so that everypony who wasn't deaf (if her over-the-top Shout didn't deafen them) within a mile radius heard her. Celestia had never really liked using the Shout, it seemed too unnecessary and showy to her when everypony seemed to always be listening to her all the time anyway.

But here she was, standing in front of the masses of ponies assembled at Canterlot Castle to see their beloved princess for the first time in five days.

"Five _days_," Celestia muttered. She loved her subjects, but they were so _needy_. Didn't the piles and piles of signed documents flowing out from the Sisters' Castle count for anything? And why did they have to see _her_ and not Luna?

Anyway. For perhaps the sixteenth time that day, Celestia nervously straightened her notecards. She had made sure that they were all there (4 times) and that they were in order (7 times). She had also practiced Shouting with Luna.

"No, no, louder, Tia, LOUDER!" Luna had said, not far away from demonstrating herself. "You have to put your all into it!" Then she'd stuffed more popcorn into her mouth.

"Can you _not_ treat this like a matinee show or something?" Celestia wailed, trying for another Shout.

"That was good!" Luna said, elated. "You've almost got it!"

"Ughhhhh," Celestia had groaned. "Ugh. Ugh. Ugh."

Now she stood before (or rather, before a thick curtain behind the stage) that crowd, anxiously awaiting for her cue to step out.

Loud fanfare. "And now...our Glorious Princess Celestine Solis of all Equestria!" shouted the announcer. Celestia had forgotten his name.

Gulping back the nervousness, Celestia stepped out. The crowd was roaring, a singular body of sound and excitement. Cringing, Celestia stepped up to the podium, their cries ringing harsh in her ears.

As soon as she tapped the microphone as a call for order, however, she straightened. Head up. Confident. Even if she wasn't inside. The princess autopilot inside her had fired up-the last remnants of her mother left.

After delivering her speech, Celestia went back to her old room for some rest. She'd ordered it cleaned, as it was sure to be at least dusty in there.

When she got there, she fell silent in utter shock. There was the fireplace, the small girly rug bed, Luna's star tapestry, the fancy door. So like her room at the Sisters Castle, yet so unlike her room at the Sisters Castle.

Everything had been sized for a smaller pony, and themed sparkly and pink. Celestia preferred gold and purple nowadays. Luna's tapestry looked sad, out of place, among the glittering pink and orange, like Celestia's god-mode mane and tail. Usually it was just plain pink nowadays.

Soon after Celestia arrived at her old room, Luna walked in, apparently already having toured _her_ old room. She stopped just inside the doorway and looked around in a mixture of horror and amazement.

"I know," Celestia said miserably. "How did I ever sleep in here?"

Luna was silent for a moment. Then, she broke out into uncontrollable laughter.

"Hey!" Celestia said, but couldn't keep herself from giggling too. "It's not funny!" 

"You're laughing," Luna chortled.

"Hasn't your taste in bedroom decor improved?" Celestia said. "Meaning, isn't your bedroom as ridiculous as mine?"

"Nope," Luna said gleefully. "My rooms are all the same." Celestia groaned.

"How can you have not changed _at all_," Celestia moaned. "I'm going to have to get all this hideous pink furniture taken out immediately. Stars only know what the servants thought of me cleaning them."

"I wouldn't be too concerned about it. They love you already," Luna said. Celestia turned and looked at her sister. Had there been a hint of resentment there?

No, Celestia thought, as her sister's face broke into a wide, teasing smile. _Just a figment of my imagination._

A servant walked by in the hall. "A-hem? Excuse me, sir?" The well-dressed stallion stopped at looked at the princess inquiringly.

"Your Majesties," he said, bowing deeply. "How may I be of service?"

"Yes. I'd like all this awful furniture of mine moved out immediately, please." Celestia said. "Tell everypony they can do with it what they wish."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the stallion said, and trotted quickly away.

When Celestia turned back to Luna, her sister had a strange look on her face. "What?" she asked.

"I think it's funny how you...handle...the servants," Luna said.

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked, confused.

"You said 'please', and...and said 'everypony' instead of 'the servants'," Luna said.

"Oh! Well, I feel as if I know them so well-I can't just consider them servants." Celestia giggled, a tad nervously. Luna didn't smile, and instead turned away.

"Well, ok," she said. "Each to their own, I suppose."

"So," Celestia asked, feeling quite awkward all of a sudden. "The rest of the day is ours. What do you want to do?"

Luna's eyes brightened. "Let's take a walk around the grounds. We haven't been here in so long!"

"Sure! Let's do that," Celestia said, relieved.

The first thing you would see of Canterlot Castle was likely not immediately the large building that was the castle itself. It was surrounded by two layers of wall, rather plain in shape, made almost all of black stone carved from the surrounding mountains, with winding ribbons of hammered gold wrapped around the four towers, spiraling up above them to create long spindly poles with the Equestrian royal family's cutie marks upon them, created of solid gold and catching the sun's rays just so.

A large black steel portcullis hung just above the open doorway into the castle's inner walls, letting in a huge stream of ponies going out after Celestia's speech and coming in, excited at the princesses' arrival and eager to catch a glimpse of the elusive pair.

After passing through the first portcullis and round of ID and invitation or pass checks, the guests would have to pass through the inner wall, gaping at Celestia's newly formed Royal Guard patrolling throughout the inner wall, and up on the walls themselves at the archers and spearmen, standing at the ready. Before passing the second portcullis and into the inner bailey, guests would have to have their bags and ponies [A's N: person, as in, I did not have it on my person at the moment] checked for dangerous or harmful items. This usually went by fairly quickly, and then the guests would enter the true Canterlot Castle.

The castle itself was on a raised hill above and centered upon a sprawling, lush green lawn. Guards paced the perimeter, while laughing guests had picnics and young foals played games. In deep contrast to the dark black stone around it, the castle was made of pinkish white marble, looking a lot like a bloated tower, with several smaller ones attached and coming out slightly at the sides. It was an impressive structure however, and was beautiful in its own right, with a golden and powdery purple-striped minaret atop it, and pointy purple roofs for the smaller towers.

"I've never really liked the outer walls," Celestia said as the two sisters looked out at them. "Too dark and creepy."

"I like their color, but they're too formidable," Luna agreed. "It sets it so far apart from the rest of Canterlot."

"I couldn't stand living here all the time," Celestia said. "When we were fillies I never got out a lot and it didn't bother me so much."

The sisters continued reacquainting themselves with the castle. Unlike their own Sisters' Castle, there were no booby traps, no fun little tricks or treats.

It was supremely boring, in short. Occasionally the sisters would exclaim: "Oh my stars, do you remember when…" and "I remember this!" but apart from that, there was nothing new or remarkable about the castle at all.

The sisters quickly got bored after going through the castle's perfectly polished marble hallways, lined with boring old gray suits of armor like the guards wore. They returned to Celestia's room to find it completely empty

-even the silly frilly pink curtains were gone.

Luna yawned widely. "Hey, I gotta take a nap. Wake me up when something interesting happens in this place, OK?" she said.

"Alright," Celestia said.

After Luna left, Celestia called for a few servants to take her to Canterlot's furniture store. The clerks were all falling over themselves to help the princess pick out new furniture for her room, and a order a custom embroidered rug bed, finer and lovelier than her own back at the Sisters' Castle.

When she finally returned to Canterlot Castle, she found her sister in her room.

Luna had spoken the truth. Her taste hadn't changed very much since they'd left Canterlot Castle. The draped silks in ovals, the stars, the round bed with the sheer white silken canopy—the only differences Celestia could see from this room and the one at the Sisters' Castle was minor details.

Luna walked to her bed and sat down on it. "What will we do now?" she asked her sister.

"We could go back to our castle," she suggested. No matter how fitting the furniture and décor was at Canterlot Castle, it wasn't _their_ castle. _Their_ castle was in the middle of the Everfree Forest. _Their_ castle was their true home.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you at least wait until your room's furniture comes? It would look like you wouldn't care one way or another about what happens in this lovely place."

_Lovely place?!_ Sure, Canterlot Castle was kind of pretty, but what about those intimidating black stone walls? And what about the Sisters' Castle? Surely Luna didn't—gasp—like _this_ place better than _their_ castle?

A knock came at the door. "Enter," Luna said loudly.

A suited butler-like stallion entered. "Your Majesty," he said. "An audience of young fillies wants to meet you in the foyer."

Luna's eyes lit up. "There are? Well, I shalt not keep them waiting!" She hopped off the bed and glanced at Celestia. "Just think about it a little, okay, sis? I have to go." And with that, Luna skipped out the door, leaving Celestia to think.

Why was her sister so eager to stay at Canterlot Castle? Or rather, so reluctant to return to their old way of life at their castle? Sure, being in the capital of Equestria was fun and exciting, but the citizens here gave her way too much attention—treating her like some sort of valuable and fragile artifact than a pony like them. She preferred the servants' and guests' behaviors at the Sister's Castle, where they treated her with reverence and respect, but nothing like the strange fascination ponies had here.

Celestia thought harder. But that was her. What about Luna? Well, at the Sisters' Castle, ponies did seem to notice Luna less. Once somepony tripped up and accidentally called her "Luna" instead of "Your Highness" or "Your Majesty." Luna had sulked in her room for hours after Celestia refused to punish the poor servant.

And that was another thing. Luna always seemed slightly dissatisfied when the ponies called her "Your Highness" instead of "Your Majesty." Celestia didn't really care.

As these uncomfortable facts stormed Celestia's mind, more of them came barging in. Ponies always seemed to address her before Luna, if they noticed Luna at all. Here at Canterlot Castle, everypony loved her—hadn't a group of young fillies just come to meet her? At the Sisters' Castle, nopony paid Luna much attention, or respect. She hardly ever got guests specifically arriving for her there.

_You're imagining things,_ Celestia told herself sternly. _It's all in your mind. Luna just likes being in Canterlot, that's all. She'll want to go back to the Sisters' Castle soon. Stars, even you were pulled into the glitz and glamour of Canterlot. Luna will miss your humble little castle in the forest soon, just like you are now. Give her time. There's nothing else happening here._

And with that thought in mind, Celestia pushed all those other silly notions out and walked out of her sister's room to finish the day.


	26. Chapter 26

"Alright, young ones! Goodbye! Goodbye!" Luna waved maniacally at her fangroup of fillies, all clad in Princess Luna paraphernalia. Which was kind of weird, but Luna didn't question it.

At least, not so far as Celestia could tell, as she rolled her eyes and got into the chariot. Why was her sister being so silly and foolish? "Luna!" she called, barely keeping the annoyed contempt out of her voice. "Luna, let's go."

"Farewell! I'll miss you all!" Luna called as she trotted extremely slowly towards the chariot. "Send me letters at the Sisters' Castle! I'll reply, promise! Farewell, fare—"

"Luna!" Celestia snapped. "Get in."

Luna looked a little shocked, and meekly got in without another word. As the royal guards began to pull the chariot away, however, she found her vigor again and started madly waving at her group of fillies, exclaiming "Goodbye!" and "Farewell!" and "I'll miss you all!" far too many times.

When they finally lifted up into the sky and away, out of earshot of the well-wishers on the ground, Celestia began to chew Luna out.

"Why in Equestria would you dilly dally so much?" she demanded.

"There's so much work I have to get done at our castle, not to mention dignitaries from Saddle Arabia arriving day after next. I have to get the entire castle ready, supervising the servants, planning the menu, picking flower arrangements, and paperwork."

Luna rolled her eyes. "It was only a few extra seconds," she said. "Small price to pay."

"Small price to pay?!" Celestia shrieked. "Then again, you're not the one with the day shift, with dozens of things on your to-do list every day! All you do at night is lounge around on your balcony, occasionally peeking through your telescope or taking a leisurely flight around Ponyville!"

"Excuse me! It's not my fault all our citizens go to sleep at night!" Luna snapped.

"I'm not having this discussion with you right now, Luna," Celestia hissed. "You've delayed me and I have several things I'm already late for." She pulled out a scroll of parchment and unrolled it. "See-" Her eyes popped out like a bug's all of a sudden. "Oh no, no no!" she cried. "Your extra few seconds of delay will make me late to preparations before meeting the delegates from the Crystal Empire!"

"It's a FEW SECONDS!" Luna roared. "They'll make no difference!"

"Yes they will!" Celestia cried, truly distressed now. "We'll have to skimp on the hoof polishing and you know that makes the Crystal delegates grumpy-my mane will have to do without an extra glossing, too-oh, oh, everything's ruined!" she cried. "Oh, I wish I could find somepony to keep track of all this for me!"

"Hire someone." Luna yawned. "You know that I should be asleep by now? It's the middle of the morning!"

"Yes, yes." Celestia had raised the sun only a few hours ago, right after her daily morning routine, cup of coffee, and jam toast. "I want you to get some sleep when we get back to the castle. You've been staying awake during the day a lot at Canterlot."

Luna yawned again, this time wider. "Y-yeah," she said afterwards. "I do need sleep. I was called upon to vanquish another beast just after midnight and it tired me out so."

All traces of their argument gone, Celestia smiled and stroked her sister's mane slightly as Luna smacked her lips and nodded off. Maybe she did have an easier list of daily to-dos than she did, but she was still the younger sister. Celestia could handle everything.

_It would be nice, however,_ Celestia thought as the last sights of Canterlot clinging to the side of the mountain faded from the chariot's view, _to have someone to share the burden of it with me. Maybe I should hire someone like Luna said._

But that would just add to her already bloated schedule for the next few days, and the thought of that almost made Celestia groan in exasperation.

She pulled open the flap of her saddlebags and took out a quill, and her travel inkwell from where it was clinking against her normal inkwell. From a tiny glass bottle wrapped in a length of shimmery white silk, she poured ink into her travel inkwell, dipped her quill in, and began to write on the empty space on her schedule parchment. After the last thing planned for today—_lower sun at 8:40—_she scrawled in some notes.

Celestia was absorbed in a business treaty when at last the village of Ponyville came into view, and beyond it, the Everfree Forest. Celestia couldn't quite see the Sisters' Castle yet, but the sight of her favorite little town cheered her up significantly. She really wanted to stop in at some of the shops, maybe even have lunch there, but it was impossible. Her schedule was crammed with meetings, negotiations, and paperwork. Living all the way out in the middle of the forest, with only a small winding path to it, you'd think ponies would want to bother you less, but some ponies found a way.

But Celestia still favored Sisters' to Canterlot Castle by far. Because now that the capital was being built there, there were more ponies than ever at the castle—requesting an audience, mobbing Celestia everywhere in the hallways, being so _clingy_. Celestia loved her subjects, but they were just too...much sometimes. Many ponies wouldn't have the guts to brave the path through the Everfree Forest, even if it was lined with guards. And that stemmed the tide of clingy considerably.

The chariot touched down just in front of Celestia's beloved Sisters' Castle, jolting Luna awake. "Muhmuhmuh?" she muttered.

"We're home," Celestia said consolingly. "Do you think you can stay awake enough to get to your room?"

"Hmmpf." Luna said, rubbing at her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah. I got it."

"Are you sure?" Celestia asked, concerned. "You can lean on me, I'll walk you there. You seem a little unsteady on your hooves."

"Mebbe yur right," Luna murmured, leaning on her sister as they stepped off the chariot. Celestia turned to the guards who pulled the chariot.

"Do you think you can bring the chariot to get cleaned and polished?" she asked them. They nodded silently and walked off.

"Come, sister," Celestia said, smiling at her little sister, whose eyes were already fluttering shut again.

She might argue with her sometimes, but Luna was still her sister: who had fought alongside during the Changeling War, who had eventually accepted Celestia banishing her first love, and nursed her through her depression after Discord's defeat.

In Luna's room, Celestia took a deep breath as she hobbled Luna towards the bed. It _was_ strikingly similar to Luna's room at Canterlot. Luna hadn't changed at all.

And as Celestia tucked her sister in, she wondered why that was.

Celestia found herself yawning as she walked to the meeting room. It was late morning, a few hours until noon, but she was groggy from seeing how sleepy Luna was.

But she had a full day ahead of her.

Another day of being a princess.


	27. Chapter 27

Luna came up with the idea a few days later.

The subject of where to keep Discord had been pushed to the back of Celestia's mind fairly quickly, as he was safe and out of the way in the Canterlot royal vault. Celestia hadn't given much thought to it—she just assumed he would stay there. Already she felt her feelings for him fade-they had only been friends, after all, before he received his chaos powers and new personality. She had fallen in love with the old Discord, not the one that was here to stay—a manipulative, malicious and tyrannical trickster.

That evening, shortly after Celestia had lowered the sun to make way for the moon, Luna proposed a new idea.

"You know how they're planning on tearing down Canterlot Castle's walls and expanding Canterlot?" she said as Celestia yawned widely, wondering where this was going.

"Y-yeah," she said. "What about it?"

"We'll have plenty of space, so why don't we add a garden? I've always wanted one to fill that big empty lawn, and you could stick Discord in there. Accessible and discreet. You could also add a plaque or something, teach the next few generations about Equestrian history."

Celestia knew neither education nor gardening was Luna's area of expertise, so she marveled at her sister's ingenuity. How had she come up with such a great idea?

"That sounds fantastic," Celestia said warmly. "Would you like to design it, or maybe pick the location?"

Luna shrugged, but Celestia could tell she was pleased by the reaction to her idea. "I don't know. Maybe get some planners and gardeners on it. I don't really know anything about these kinds of things."

"Okay. I'll be getting to sleep." Celestia bid her sister good night as she went off to her bedroom. It really was so very nice being back in the Sisters' Castle.

That night Celestia had a very strange dream of young fillies and colts. One filly had an orange coat and a fiery scarlet and orange mane and tail. The other had a purple coat and a squarely cut darker purple mane and tail with pink highlights. A quiet, almost brooding gray-coated colt had a silvery-white mane and tail. They skipped and played with a crowd of other, easily forgettable foals in a blurred-out playground.

Then, by some unknown signal that Celestia could tell was a bell ringing (even though she couldn't hear it), the foals scattered, as the two fillies with the orange and purple coats and the gray-coated colt came skipping up to Celestia, as if she were their mother. They led her down a foggy path through what appeared to be a nondescript forest.

The fillies ran ahead and disappeared into the mist ahead, while the colt stayed behind, walking beside Celestia and steadying her as she felt herself inexplicably growing weaker and weaker. Silently, the colt used a dazzling array of spells Celestia didn't think even existed to keep her strength up. Soon he, too, disappeared into the mist, and Celestia could only keep walking down the path.

She came upon the scarlet-maned filly, looking into an oval mirror. Before Celestia could look into it herself, however, crystalline chains wrapped across it and pulled it into the ground. Dismayed, the scarlet-maned filly looked at Celestia with wide, disappointed eyes and continued down the path with her.

She and Celestia had energetic conversations that Celestia couldn't remember afterward, but as they talked she could sense the filly becoming increasingly agitated and angry. Finally, she slammed her hooves down into the ground, causing two members of the royal guard to appear. They grabbed her kicking and screaming and dropped into the ground as well.

Still Celestia's legs moved ever on. This time she found the purple maned filly lying on the ground reading a book. As Celestia walked up, the book clapped shut and dissolved into a scattering of paper flakes that lodged themselves into the filly's mane and tail. The filly popped up eagerly and began to talk with Celestia. As the pair walked, other fillies and occasionally colts popped out of the trees, but the purple maned filly noticeably ignored them.

Eventually the two came to a bright light, but just as it came into view, a faint sound came from behind them. Celestia turned, and, to her horror, she saw the playground, wreathed in a dark purple and blue smoke. The sound turned into maniacal laughter as the smoke began to shoot down the path towards Celestia and the filly.

Terrified, Celestia stretched out her wing to wrap it around the filly and run with her to the safety of the bright white light at the end of the path, but found she was now behind her. As she watched, five other shadowy fillies crept out of the misted trees to join the purple filly. Together they began to emit a warm glow as the smoke approached fast. Frozen to the spot, she watched as it engulfed them, turning into a pulsing ball.

Suddenly, the same bright light from the end of the path broke free of the ball, illuminating the shadowy fillies, now full-grown mares. The light engulfed everything, pushing back the mist and silencing the evil laughter and filling Celestia with a great sense of pride and hope—

And suddenly, she was awake, the sound of her alarm clock ringing in her ears.


	28. Chapter 28

Celestia shot awake, forehead wet with sweat, mane tangled and unflowing. Had that been a nightmare or a dream? She couldn't tell. It had a happy ending, so that could have counted it as a dream, but that laughter, and that dark purple smoke—that would surely have made it a nightmare.

She wondered if Luna had walked in that dream. She hadn't spotted her, and she still wasn't even sure _if_ Luna walked in her dreams. She may have felt awkward about seeing her older sister's dreams. Luna didn't tell Celestia about her dream work.

It was almost past time to raise the sun—already Luna had pulled the moon so far out of the sky only the barest shade of lilac lined the horizon. Not bothering to get out on the balcony, Celestia, with a little bit more effort, managed to raise the sun enough so streaks of warm colors appeared. The sun would naturally boost itself back into the sky with the momentum Celestia had given it, and if it needed any more, she could pull it a little more later.

She yawned. Today would be the second day in a very long week that she had a nearly empty schedule. Nearly empty! She'd chosen to cram as much work as she could into the busy week after coming home from Canterlot, and while it was exhausting, it would be so worth it to have a whole _three days_ of an empty schedule. All she had to do was do forty-five minutes of paperwork and an hour of disputes, and she would be free.

Luna, unfortunately, would be long asleep, so Celestia couldn't confide in her about the dream. After the paperwork and disputes, Celestia was at a loss of what to do. Yesterday she'd walked around in Ponyville, talking with the residents and enjoying all the free samples they gave her. Of course, she did buy—a loaf of bread here, a box of strawberries there. But it was nice to be in a calm, small collection of ponies. She could interact with her subjects without being mobbed.

Which reminded her. She had a trip to Manehattan and Phillydelphia to meet said mobs she had to plan for. Most of it was taken care of, but it was up to Celestia to piece together the meals, retiring times, royal chores, and times to meet the public into an itinerary.

She could do that later this afternoon—she just wanted to relax, and she wondered where she could do that. She'd go to a spa, but it would likely become crowded just because she was there. Celestia didn't feel like braving a crowd today—disputes had reminded her all over again of that.

_Hmm. What about a private spa?_ Celestia wondered, walking back to her bedroom. She didn't really understand where the idea had come from—she had kind of just connected the need for a spa and the need for privacy together. But as she thought about it, that seemed like a really nice idea. It felt soothing just to think about it. A nice, private, out-of the-way venue just for her own use. She supposed it would have to be in Canterlot, because such a place would go bankrupt in Ponyville. Celestia couldn't force it to take only her as a client. Perhaps some other elite ponies from Canterlot would like to escape the crowds, like Sharp Suit or Saylor Stitch, who seemed to be getting a little old. She could ask them. The spa would never be ready in time for her three-day vacation, as it was already the second day, so Celestia supposed she'd just have to sneak in the Ponyville spa's back door.

It worked relatively well, although towards the end there was a bit of a crowd. The spa mares, Mane Trim and Sudsy Spa were very kind and accommodating, getting her out-of-the-way areas.

First Celestia took a nice, refreshing bubble bath, then spent a while in the sauna. When her pores (and every part of her) was clean, she was dried off. Her mane and tail were brushed and fine-tooth combed thoroughly, her coat brushed and fluffed ever so slightly. Her hooves were trimmed and polished, as was her horn. Her hoof crowns, collar, and tiara had been sent away for cleaning and polishing, so Celestia had to wait a bit for them to be delivered back. She lay on a soft hoof trimming bed, paging through Ponyville's local newspaper. There wasn't really anything to read—although Celestia was sure the next issue would be full of her visit to the spa.

She had just finished the funnies section when her jewels arrived. "Thanks for coming, Your Majesty," Sudsy Spa said as she knelt to put on Celestia's hoof crowns. Celestia stopped her.

"That's alright," Celestia smiled gently. "There's no need for that. I'll do it myself. And it was a pleasure, Miss Sudsy Spa."

Sudsy Spa blushed and backed away, stammering thankyous and comeagains. Smiling, Celestia pulled on her jewelry and braced herself to go out the front door.

A roar came from the crowd when she appeared. "Oh my gosh!" yelled a group of teenaged fillies. "Oh my gosh! Princess Celestia! Over here! I'm your biggest fan!" they squealed. One of them groaned: "I _wish_ there was something I could use to get a picture of her. Like this little mini painter in a box." Her friend agreed with her.

"Over here, Celestia!" A newspaper reporter, quill and pad hovering, pushed himself to the front of the crowd. "How was your visit to the spa? Was it enjoyable? Were the spa ponies civil?"

"It was a very pleasurable experience," Celestia said warmly as a young foal slipped between the reporter's legs with a quill and a piece of paper.

"H-hi, Your Majesty," she squeaked nervously. She held out the quill and paper. "Could—could I get your autograph?"

"Of course," Celestia said, smiling. This is what she loved about being a princess—her subjects and their excitement upon seeing her. It reminded her that it was worth the long work days keeping Equestria in working order for her citizens. Picking up the quill, she signed the filly's paper. She squealed excitedly and was about to run off when a mare squeezed through behind her.

"Now, dear, what do you say to Her Majesty?" she said. The filly turned to Celestia with wide eyes. "Tank you," she said softly, and ran away.

Celestia signed a few more autographs before taking off. The castle wasn't far off, but she was nearly spent when she got there. Flying taxed her more and more now—while Luna seemed to relish flying. Celestia supposed it was her work defending Equestria against the creatures of the night—flying around all the time and such. Sitting around all day signing paperwork wasn't really good for endurance.

It was almost time for lunch when Celestia got back to the Sisters' Castle. A loose group of newly hired maids were gathered at the entrance, giggling at the sight of Celestia.

"I like her mane," one of them said. She had a curly pale purple and pink mane and tail and a white coat. Her wide green eyes sparkled. "It looks so soft."

"She keeps it so short. Maybe I'll cut mine like hers, too." another of the maids whispered. "She's got that rebelle look about her." She pronounced rebel like ray-belle.

"Oh my stars, yes," another maid said. Their voices faded away as Celestia, smiling, walked down the hallway to the personal dining room. The grand serving hall was used only when there were guests over.

As she walked, Celestia thought about how well thought-out her father had built this refuge castle. It had become the two sisters' everything—their main residence, their hideaway, their refuge, their home. Unlike their childhood home, Canterlot Castle, the Castle of the Two Sisters felt uniquely their own—their little hideaway, named after them and dedicated to them. It was the only place Celestia could think of living the rest of her years out at with her sister.

When she got to the dining room, the servants were bustling around setting the table, but Luna hadn't appeared yet. Taking her place at the head of the table, Celestia started to lose herself in her thoughts.

Luna was Celestia's only piece of their parents left—they'd left Canterlot Castle forever, after all, and everything their parents had worked for were there. The Castle of the Two Sisters had only ever been in contact with King Cosmopoliattan, who had really only designed it, never thinking they would actually need it.

And what of Queen Galaxiana, the matriarch of the family? Celestia missed her so much it hurt sometimes, but she let herself think about her mother just then, for the first time in a long time. Instead of feeling grief, she felt a sort of keen curiosity. How did it feel to be the only pony who could become queen? Queen Thoraxia couldn't—she had a dark heart, and Celestia's father could tell at the time.

That must have been why Queen Galaxia had taken charge of the royal family nearly right from the beginning. She'd always been the one to make the executive decisions.

What if Celestia chose to start a family? The thought jarred her. Could she even produce alicorns anymore? If her parents were gone—that might mean the changelings or some other force of evil would target her and Luna first. Then there would be nobody to rule over Equestria but her aunt and uncle in the Crystal Empire—or Queen Chrysalis.

The thought made Celestia shiver. After all, Queen Chrysalis was the legitimate daughter of Queen Thoraxia, who had come from the Pool of Light and had a claim on rule of Equestria. It would be in her interest to overthrow Celestia and Luna so she could make a move on the crown.

Chrysalis had been awfully quiet—Celestia wondered if the changelings really had been weakened so much, all those years ago. Before the Changeling Invasion, ponies had only been mildly distrustful of changelings, because of their ruler, Queen Thoraxia. The changelings would have no problem feeding on love—there had even been a love bank of pony volunteers to feed the changelings.

But after the invasion? The love bank had been dismantled and a nationwide hatred of changelings had begun.

"Your Majesty? Are you alright?" A serving filly timidly asked Celestia, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Oh! Oh yes, I'm fine," Celestia said. "Where's my sister? Let's eat," she said, looking hungrily at the delicious foods on the table—caramelized onion tart, chili, and red lentil and vegetable soup served with a basket full of hunks of warm bread. It was fall, and many Running of the Leaves races were happening all across the country.

"Your sister? She…she has lunch near midnight, Your Highness," the serving filly said. "Princess Luna's asleep right now."

"Oh. Oh, right," Celestia said, embarrassed. "You must forgive me. I'm a bit out of it today."

"Of course, Your Majesty. Please enjoy your meal." The serving filly bowed her head and left.

Leaving Celestia to eat lunch all by her lonesome—no dignitaries to entertain, no family to laugh and comment on the food with.

All alone.


	29. Chapter 29

It was early in the morning, and Celestia held a letter written on that incredible crystal paper, which could only mean one thing. A letter from Amaris.

_Dear Celestia,_

_There's something strange going on here in the Crystal Empire…I truly wish I did not have to send this note to you, but the situation is quite alarming here._

_You know about my parents' declining health, right? I don't know why this is so—Queen Emeralda is a Pool alicorn—she shouldn't be like this. What with your parents gone and Queen Thoraxia, I worry._

_It's not just my parents' health, though. There's a stallion named Arbmos who…well, he barely looks pony. His crystal coat is kind of…dull, you know? No other crystal pony looks quite like he does. He's so shadowy…and his horn, frankly, doesn't look like a true unicorn horn. But he's gaining popularity with my subjects. Ask Luna if she might know him, he talks about her a lot._

_On a brighter note, you must come see your niece Cadence! She's the prettiest filly I've ever seen…although of course all parents must think that. It's silly, I know, but can you come to the Crystal Empire for a visit? Luna's welcome if she doesn't have to stay in Equestria. I'd like your counsel during these troubled times._

_Love,_

_Amaris_

A postscript was added hastily, and terrified Celestia:

_Celestia, I haven't got much time, he's coming for me—don't come unprepared, BRING AN ARMY._

The bottom of the Y streaked in a line across the rest of the parchment.

A cold shiver ran down Celestia's back. Arbmos…hadn't Luna corresponded with him after Sombra was banished? She hadn't written him in a while as far as Celestia knew—she had a falling-out with him, apparently. And if Amaris was afraid of Arbmos… perhaps she would have to bring Luna after all. Could the "he" in Amaris's postscript mean Arbmos? What could one stallion do, though? Who was this mysterious stallion?

Then, like the horrifying solution to a murder, the pieces fell in place.

_Sombra…is back._

Celestia whipped around to look at the messenger who had brought her the letter. "Who gave you this letter?"

The messenger bowed. "One of the Crystal Family's royal messengers, Your Highness." He paused for a moment, considering. "He looked awfully hassled and left almost as soon as he could."

Celestia felt the blood draining from her cheeks. "Summon my Captain of the Guard, please," she said. "I need to speak with him immediately. Also tell Steel Hammer to come—I need to make arrangements for my and Luna's armor."

The messenger bowed. "As you wish, Your Highness." He left without another word, likely sensing his princess's anxiety.

Celestia gazed out her window to the sun she'd just raised. She had another day of office work and disputes, but all that would have to wait. What was Sombra's plan, and, what had terrified Amaris so? What was happening in the Empire? She would have summoned her carriage and gone immediately to the Empire, but that was Amaris has specifically warned Celestia about doing.

Steel Hammer arrived first—his forge was likely quite still at this time of day, when it was hot and the forge could roast a pony to death. "Your Majesty," he said, bowing deeply. "How may I be of service?"

"Greetings, Steel Hammer. How fares the forge?" Celestia asked kindly. Steel Hammer used to be a handsome young stallion, but instead of pursuing popularity and mares, he focused on metalwork and, even as an earth pony, he could work a piece of steel like nopony else, and quickly rose within the ranks of the blacksmithing community. Soon tales of his skill and genius reached the palace, and Celestia recruited him herself by visiting him in his forge just outside Pegasopolis.

"Very well, Your Majesty. I've found a better way to work crystal," Steel said. "I was going to send a sample and a letter to my friend in the Crystal Empire when I heard they shut down their borders." Steel shook his head. "What a shame. I wonder what happened?"

Then he looked up and saw Celestia's pale face. "Your Majesty? What's wrong?"

"Oh, no, they've shut down their borders? That is very bad indeed," Celestia fretted. "My good Steel Hammer, can I entrust you to a secret?"

Steel knelt. "I will guard it with my life, Princess."

Celestia gulped. "There is something very wrong in the Crystal Empire," she said.

Just as she said these words, her Captain of the Guard, Polished Armor, came running in, breathless. "Your Majesty, have you heard about the Crystal Empire?" he said, panting. Celestia held up a hoof to calm him.

"I was just talking to Steel Hammer here," Celestia said gravely. "It appears the Crystal Empire is in a dire situation."

"Please explain, Princess," Steel Hammer said, his face deathly pale as well.

"This news must never leave this throne room," Celestia said sternly. "I will release this information to the public when I see fit."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Polished Armor said. "Please tell us what has happened."

"You have likely heard of the Crystal Empire closing its borders," Celestia said. "Just before, I received a letter from my sister, Princess Amaris. She is suspicious of a potential threat in one of her citizens, who I am almost sure has acquired dark magic of some kind. She was so worried she warned me not to go to the Empire without…well, an army." Celestia gulped as she saw the understanding and fear in Steel and Polished's faces.

"Polished Armor, I shall need at least a few hundred trained corps. That will stretch our corps numbers a bit, but we'll need them. Leave maybe a hundred at their posts. Conduct weapon and armor checks." Polished Armor nodded grimly and went off.

"Steel Hammer, I need you to check and perform whatever necessary procedures on my and Lu—Princess Luna's armor. I have a strong suspicious that we will need them." Steel Hammer nodded and left.

Celestia called the servant in again. "Please wake my sister up," she said. "Tell her that I'm sorry, but dire news has arrived and I need her." The servant nodded and went off as well.

Celestia was alone for only a few minutes until Luna burst in, groggy-eyed, mussed-maned, and shouting: "WHY DO YOU DISTURB MY SLEEP, SISTER?!"

"Calm yourself!" Celestia snapped. "Amaris has sent a letter, and I've already had Captain Polished Armor prepare the corps. Get yourself together—as soon as the corps and our armor is ready, we'll be setting off immediately for the Empire."

Fear came into Luna's eyes. "A letter from Amaris?" she asked. The look on her face suggested Luna knew something Celestia did not.

"Yes. She fears of a threat from none other than Sombra." Celestia narrowed her eyes at her sister. "What is this about Sombra being a unicorn all of a sudden?"

Luna looked petrified. "I—sister, I—don't—I never meant—please…"

"What, Luna? What happened? What did he do? Tell me, please," Celestia begged. "I must know what he's done."

To her surprise, Luna began to _cry_. "Oh, sis!" she wailed. "I have committed a grievous mistake!"

"What? What did you do?" Celestia said, alarmed, moving to comfort her sister.

"I have brought down the Crystal Empire!" Luna sobbed. "It is all my fault!"

"No, no! Stop, Luna, hush. What did you do?" Celestia said, wiping her sister's face with a hoofkerchief.

"I—I taught him alicorn magic!" Luna cried. "He—he asked me, kept sending me letters after you banished him—I thought I owed it to him and I was still upset about his banishment so—so I taught him! I told him all about it! And now he's twisted it, I know he can't have used it properly, and he's given himself a horn…" Luna threw herself on the ground. "I've doomed Amaris, I've doomed Quillius, their baby, aunt Emeralda, uncle Rubeus… they're all doomed! I've killed them!"

"Hush, Luna! Calm down, this is not your fault!" Celestia was angry that Luna had been so careless, but seeing her sister as a weepy pile upon the floor removed all of it. She helped her sister up again and barked at a servant to bring a glass of water, a towel, and some clean hoofkerchiefs.

"Luna, Luna, silly filly," Celestia said. "It's not your fault. He asked—I'm not sure if I could have resisted telling him. Calm down, calm down, it's already been done. The only thing you can do now is help me stop him."

"But what if I can't? What if he—what if he makes me join him, or worse, _persuades_ me to join him? I'd put you in danger, our family in danger, our corps, the Crystal citizens—I shouldn't go! I can't! You can't make me!" Luna wailed.

"Stop overreacting so! You're going, Luna—you may be our most valuable asset," Celestia said desperately. If her sister didn't go, it would be just her and the corps, and the thought of taking down Sombra without Luna's confidence and brashness, everything could easily go wrong.

"I can't! I can't," Luna weeped. The servant came back with cold water and four neatly folded hoofkerchiefs. "Thank you," Celestia said, and proceeded to dump the glass of water, ice and all, over her sister's head.

Luna shrieked. "What did you that for?" she yelled. Celestia handed her a towel.

"You needed it," Celestia said, barely stifling a smile. "Pull yourself together. Do you remember how much you taught him?"

"Only the b-basics—I n-never thought he'd be able to u-use it," Luna stuttered, wrapping the towel around herself. Celestia handed her hoofkerchiefs, which she used to loudly blow her nose with.

"I st-stopped when he asked me a-about cre-creating a horn," Luna said, toweling herself off. "I sent him an angry letter and locked all the other ones he sent afterwards in my desk drawer without reading them."

Celestia's ears perked up. "You put them in your desk? Can I read them?" she asked.

"I sp-suppose," Luna said. "It's a bit of a mess—I'll help you find them."

They went into Luna's office. It was much smaller than Celestia's —she supposed her sister had no real use for an office than a place to put all her papers. They were everywhere—crammed messily into filing cabinets, cardboard boxes, and on shelves.

"There's organization to it, I swear," Luna said. "But I don't have time to explain it." She hurried to a corner of the room where a massive pile of papers sat. "Uh, Luna, I don't think we have time—" Celestia stopped when she watched Luna push a stack of papers on the floor, revealing that the pile was actually a desk.

"Hey, Tia? Do me a favor and face the door, please." Celestia was so surprised she did so immediately. Whatever Luna kept in her drawers, she didn't want Celestia knowing.

She felt a tiny breath of wind as Luna flew up to somewhere. "Okay, you can turn back now," Luna said. She now had a key and was unlocking the center drawer of the desk. She dug around in it before pulling out three unopened crystal letters. Tears streaked her face.

"Please, Tia," she said. "Do you…do you have to read these?" she begged. Celestia hugged her sister.

"I'm sorry, Luna," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Okay," Luna said, crestfallen. "Okay. I just—I just wish you didn't have to."

Celestia smiled sadly at her little sister. "But I have to, Luna," she said. "You know why I have to."

"Just get it over with," Luna said, giving Celestia a letter opener.

Celestia examined the letters carefully. The one on the top was dated 18 months ago. The one at the bottom was nearly two years old. She sliced open the oldest first. One thing about crystal paper was that it kept ink pristine for years—the ink still looked fresh.

A shiver went down Celestia's spine as she recognized Sombra's hoofwriting. It wasn't as scrawly anymore—far from hornwriting, but still more elegant and smooth.

_Dearest Luna,_

_I'm sorry. I should have known giving myself a horn would be very dark magic. I was foolish and didn't realize it would anger you so. Could you ever forgive me? The only good things in life are your letters—the crystal ponies all treat me like a leper. I guess it's maybe my fault, but it's too late to befriend them now, even though I almost look like them. It's all the crystal berry pies and other crystal foods, I guess. Surprisingly no crystal food is actually crystally, even though it looks like it would be._

_Princess Amaris visited me the other day, did you know? She wanted to inquire how I was doing. I suppose I should have been awed and grateful, but she was such a brat! I know, I know, she's your cousin and you love her, but she was so condescending! Our conversation went something like this:_

_Me: Princess Amaris! Hello._

_Her: *strange look* Hello, Arbmos._

_One of her Guards: Address her as _Your Highness_, sir!_

_Her: Oh, it's ok. I'm glad my subjects feel comfortable enough with me to call me by my name, even if Arbmos is a bit of an "adopted" citizen. *snarky smile*_

_Me: Oh, yes. Sorry, Princess._

_Her: *nods* Well, I'm glad to see you're doing well. It's been almost a year, hasn't it?_

_Me: It's been fourteen months._

_Her: My apologies! Time really flies, doesn't it? *bratty giggle* *flaps wings*_

_That really cheesed me off, how she flapped her wings as if to say: _Hey, look! I'm an alicorn and you're just a lowly earth pony! _After that awkward two-phrase conversation, thankfully, she left._

_Anyway, I hope you can forgive me, Luna—I'm eagerly awaiting your reply. I promise I won't ask about dark magic again—I really didn't even know such a thing existed._

_Sincerely Yours,_

"_Arbmos"_

"Eugh," Luna said, sticking out her tongue. She'd been reading over Celestia's shoulder.

"Onto the next one, I guess," Celestia said, slicing open the next letter, dated 20 months ago.

_Dearest Luna,_

_I guess you haven't forgiven me. It's been two months and you've not replied. I hope you've at least read my last letter—you needed to know how your cousin Amaris is running things down here. We hardly ever see Queen Emeralda or King Rubeus anymore—I fear she's done something awful to them along with her bookish husband. Oh, sorry, should I have written _Princess _Amaris? Slip of the pen, but really I have no respect for her at all anymore. What has she done to her parents to rise through the ranks so quickly? And there are rumors that she's pregnant. I know it's her duty, but I feel compelled to pen something that would surely make you even more angry._

_Please reply, my dear Luna. I miss your curly hornwriting dearly, and my days are so empty without your words to guide me. It was good of you to teach me Ancient Alicorn—like you said, it's not like I could use it anyway. I'm just an earth pony. It's—it's interesting, is all. As I am further alienated by that despicable princess's subjects, I fear that I am delving further and further into madness. Please send me a reply, Luna. You can pull me out of this dark well I'm falling into._

_All my love,_

_Sombra_

"He sighed _all my love_?!" Celestia exclaimed, a tad disgusted. "Eugh. What a leech. He even wrote out his name!"

"Yes," Luna said quietly. "But did he ever truly love me?"

Celestia didn't think so, but she'd never say that. "Of course he did. He must have. He just…went astray, that's all. Perhaps he only wanted to impress you."

Luna nodded. "Last letter, then,"

The next letter was written in…hornwriting? It was smooth and curling, deadly elegant and sharp. Celestia heard Luna gulp.

_Luna._

_I'd like you to know that this is all your fault. I know you haven't been reading my letters, and I doubt you'll read this one. I'm just writing this so that one day, when your kingdom is in tatters around you, you'll read this and cry. I will laugh. Because you have only yourself to blame for what I will do._

_You're a foolish little filly, Princess Luna. All that Ancient Alicorn you gave me—I found a book in a secret hidden area of the Magic Archives in the Crystal Empire library. I've created my own brand of magic from the bits you taught me—twisted, dark, beautiful. More powerful than _you _could ever imagine. Like my hornwriting? I have a horn now. With it I will take what's mine._

_I'm not worried. I will bide my time. You won't read this and you won't know until it's too late—when I've grown too powerful for you, your idiotic sister, and your bratty little princess cousin with her feeble-minded parents and tiny little filly. I will crush you all. I will rule the Crystal Empire. I will enslave the citizens who alienated me for so long. Then I will use them against your citizens, Luna. And I will laugh as I throw you into the deepest depths of Tartarus. Because guess what? I've found a way into there, too._

_Know this, princess. By not replying to, by not even _reading_ my letters? You've made a very, very bad mistake. It's all your fault. And you _will_ pay._

_Lord Sombra_

"Lord Sombra? What in the hay?" Celestia turned to see her sister looking horrified.

"It's…it's all my fault," Luna whispered. "No…"

"Luna, don't. It's not your fault. He just wants to make you feel guilty. He's not Sombra anymore," Celestia said, trying to appear confident. She didn't really believe herself, but she had to say anything, do anything, to cheer Luna up so she felt she could go to the Crystal Empire to fight.

"I…I can't…it is. It's all my fault, he said so, and it's true, we all know…" Luna said.

"No! No, Luna. I said, it's not your fault. He's the one at fault. He's the one to blame." Celestia said.

"But—I started it! And now, and now—"

"You can stop this," Celestia said, seizing upon a new idea. "You can. Come with me to the Empire—you can take down Sombra himself. _Listen_ to me, Luna—you can put an end to this yourself."

Luna sniffled. "You really think I can do that? Could I?"

"Yes," Celestia said forcefully. "I believe in you. I know you can."

"B-but how? How would I do it? Kill him? Can he be killed?"

"Well, now that we know it is probably him causing the border to be shut down, we know what to do," Celestia said. "He's just a pony, albeit more powerful now that he's got a horn. If only we knew what his fake horn could do…" Celestia trailed off. What could this new dark magic of Sombra's do? How powerful was it?

There was so much that had to be done, and Celestia couldn't help but feel a terrible foreboding spreading throughout her entire body.


	30. Chapter 30

"Oh _stars_," Luna gasped, horrified.

They stood upon a snowy hill, gazing down upon the Crystal Empire. They wore their armor—Celestia in her golden regalia—the full-headed helmet with the horn-protecting spike. The breastplate wasn't much more than a reinforced version of her usual choker, with a strip of bolts along the top and wing-like side strips at the sides. Her hoof crowns were simplified, and she had foreleg guards all the way up to her knees. Her short, almost choppy pink mane and tail were tied back into small bubble braids. Luna's was a tad more protective—her hoof crowns were about the same and her helmet just covered her skull, but her chestplate wrapped around her torso in overlapping plates of shiny midnight blue. Her mane was pulled back, but her tail hung freely. It wasn't very long, anyway.

But mane and tail styles were the last thing on Celestia and Luna's minds. They hadn't been to the Crystal Empire much and hardly knew how it worked, but they were 100% sure it shouldn't have looked like _this_.

A gigantic, dirty orange-colored dome encased the Crystal Empire, but even through it the princesses could tell it had changed drastically. It was no longer blue, peaceful, crystally. Instead it was dark, evil. The castle was a frightening black behemoth, no longer smooth and elegant, but made with frightening misshapen crystals. All along the dark orange ground, black, jagged crystals seemed to grow from the ground.

"None of our corps have been able to breach the dome," Luna said. "It's impenetrable, and none of the crystal ponies, nor our family, nor Sombra are anywhere to be found."

"This isn't any use. Just bashing our swords into the dome won't do a thing. Haven't we already had an incident? Some poor corp bounced into it and cut himself on a spear?" Celestia asked. Luna nodded sadly.

"He's being treated, but for now, the dome stands. And the Empire is still deserted. I can't imagine what Sombra's done." Luna fidgeted and trotted in place. "Oh, Tia, I can't stand it! What has Sombra done to the crystal ponies? To the Empire?"

"We can't fret, sister," Celestia said. "If blindly headbutting the dome won't work, we have to find a different way through."

"Well, it's obvious no magic will breach it," Luna said. "I tried beybelunge, ripelldym…no Ancient Alicorn can make a dent in it."

"I know," Celestia said, concentrating hard. "I was there…"

She gasped as it came to her. "Ancient Alicorn! That's the key, Luna! You taught him some of it, didn't you?"

"Uh, yeah," Luna said, cringing a little.

"What did that last letter say again? He found a book in the Magic Archives of the Crystal Empire library or something?" Celestia concentrated hard, but Luna minced no words—or brainpower. She pulled the letter out.

"Let's see here…no, this is the first one. Ah, this must be the third…let's see…" Luna's eyes searched the crystal parchment.

"Here we go! 'I've created my own brand of magic from the bits you taught me'. What's that supposed to mean?" Luna asked, puzzled.

"He can't use Ancient Alicorn—even if he used dark magic to give himself a horn, pegasi wings would be nearly impossible, and even then he wouldn't be a true Alicorn. He must have found that out somewhere along the way, so he decided not to use it. Anyways, we know how to use it, and the crystal monarchs as well…so he must have…what _could_ he mean by 'I've created my own brand of magic?'"

"Perhaps he means it literally," Luna said. "But is that possible? Twisting preexisting magic like Ancient Alicorn?"

"I—I don't know. It's never been done before." Celestia looked again towards the dome. "Come with me to the dome. We have to try anything we can."

"Maybe I overlooked something," Luna said doubtfully as she followed her sister down the crest of the hill. The corps were making no progress at all on the dome—it looked as fresh and new as when they had found it.

"We can't leave this here," Celestia murmured as she studied it. "We must go in and find out what's happening. Amaris is depending upon us."

"I know, I know." Luna paced nervously. "But what's to be done?"

Celestia touched it. It felt like sturdy, smooth plate glass, but she could feel something…malevolent from it.

She focused hard, eyebrows scrunching. "Tempyritus!" she yelled, with all the force she could muster. To her surprise, she teleported forward—

—and was thrown against the ground, knocking all the wind out of her.

For a minute her thoughts scrambled frantically. Was she in? Did she do it?

"Tia!" Her sister's alarmed cry told her it was not so. "Medic!" came her sister.

"No, no, I'm fine," Celestia said, staggering to her hooves. Cloth Bandage had come over anyway.

"Are you alright, Your Majesty?" he asked concernedly. "Does your head hurt? Do your bones feel okay? You looked like you had quite the impact there."

"No, no, I'm fine. Strangely," Celestia said, dusting herself off. "Well, _teleporting_ in won't work."

Celestia tried several more spells—even the voice magnifier, thinking it would shatter the dome maybe—but at the end, it was still its shiny, solid self, and they'd wasted another half hour.

"Urgh!" Even Celestia was frustrated now. "Nothing will work! Nothing will get us in! He's grown too powerful, I can feel it…much too powerful."

"Oh, _Tia_…" Luna seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "Amaris…little baby Cadenza! Quillius, Uncle Rubeus, Aunt Emeralda…they're all in danger…their citizens…"

"Don't you think I know that? This is no easier for me than it is you!" Celestia ground her teeth.

"Well you're sure not acting like it! You've wasted half an hour prancing around and _shouting_ at the dome! We need a solution, and fast." Luna was getting more and more agitated.

"Luna, calm down—" Celestia started saying, but this did not placate her sister. In fact, it enraged her even more.

"DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO," Luna thundered. In anger, she shot a random spell at the dome, and something strange happened.

Luna's eyes turned green, with no visible iris or pupil, and purple smoke leaked from the corners of her eyes. Circular purple smoke wreathed around her horn as she shot a spell at the dome.

At first it only cut a small hole in the dome where the spell had gone through, hitting the ground and growing a small black crystal. But this was the most progress they had made, so Celestia drew closer. As Luna recovered and realized what had happened, the hole grew, consuming all of the dome. Soon the dome was no more.

"Oh…oh my stars! You did it, Luna"! Celestia cried. The corps couldn't quite believe it, either, because they hesitated before storming forward.

It didn't last forever, though. Less than a fourth of the corps had made it through when the dome reappeared again from a beam of dark magic blasting out the top of the Crystal Castle. A horrible, coarse chuckle boomed from the castle, muffled by the dome as the panicked corps banged against the barrier.

"Luna, how did you do that? Can you do it again?" Celestia asked. This was amazing—they'd found a way in! But so many of Celestia's corps were trapped behind the force field—it broke her heart to hear their muffled cries and watch them banging their hooves against the glassy surface, crying out for rescue.

"I—I don't know what happened. I was just so frustrated—so angry, and just so scared for our family, trapped inside the castle—because face it, they're in the castle and Sombra's keeping them there. Who knows what he's doing to them!" Luna wailed.

"Calm down, sister. I need you to recreate that—that dark magic. Maybe that's what Sombra is doing—using fear and anger to do all this." Celestia gestured at the Empire in its fishbowl. "And you broke through! You can do it again, I know." Celestia knew she appeared almost calm, collective, on the outside, but inside her she was petrified. _Just_ when they had finally found a way into the Empire, _just_ when all hope did not seem to be lost…and though Luna spoke of it more, she was not the only sister who worried for their remaining family.

"I—I don't know! It just—came out of me. How does it work? Where did it come from? I don't know!" Luna was extremely distressed now. "Oh, it's all my fault!"

"STOP saying that!" Celestia yelled, fed up with her idiotic sister. "NONE OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT! STOP WHINING ABOUT IT!"

Fire burnt through her, mixed with fear and anger and sadness and pent-up frustration at her sister. How _dare_ Luna be so selfish, how _dare_ she cry and whine when an entire empire hung in the balance? It was NOT about her and her poor little damaged self-esteem.

She felt like a fireball. She felt like a star. She felt like she was dying and collapsing and burning with the foolishness of pony, anger at Sombra, and an overwhelming desire to crush the dome, to shatter it into pieces and scatter it upon the four winds, to storm in and serve Sombra the justice he deserved.

She felt like a god. She could point her hoof and even the toughest rock, the most solidly built house, the grandest palace would crumble as if it were nothing. The tallest mountain would vanish into the ground. The greatest ocean would dry in an instant. All this she could do with the rage inside her, the fear that drove her to madness—

"Tia? Tia?! TIA!" A voice. A lowly voice, to be sure. Beneath her notice, puny and unworthy. But she found herself paying attention.

"Keep going, Tia, you've got this, the corps are almost all in—you can do this, I believe in you—don't stop—"

Soon she felt them upon her. How dare they lay their filthy hooves upon a GOD? Did they not recognize her power, her rage, the fear she could instill into their hearts? Yet…something kept her from unleashing her full power upon them. _Not yet…_whispered a shadowy voice.

It was instantaneous. As soon as Luna and the corp lieutenant had pushed Celestia within the dome's borders, _snap!_ The dome was back up and Celestia was herself again.

"Tia? You were amazing," Luna said, awed.

"I—really?" Celestia could still feel the power coursing through her veins—dark, delicious, sweet. But frightening—she had really thought nothing could bring her down. She shivered—what would she be if she was like that full-time? Not herself, that was for sure.

She'd become a monster.

"Are—are you okay, Tia?" Luna asked. "You were great."

"That was horrible, Luna," Celestia said. "I was insane. I—thought I was a god, I thought I could do anything—dry a sea up, collapse a mountain or something. And then…there was this voice. It was urging me on, and then, when you pushed me into the Empire, I really was about to do something really awful…and then it told me to wait." Another shiver ran down Celestia's spine, rattling her breastplate. "If that's what Sombra's like full-time, then we're in trouble."

"No time to dwell on it now." Luna's voice was grim. "The corps are advancing to the castle. Come, sister." She flew off. Celestia followed her, suddenly feeling very small in the shadow of the great Crystal Castle.


	31. Chapter 31

"Storm the entrances, divvy the corps. Nobody goes anywhere alone, _no exceptions_. And tell them no stealth—just rush in there and _find me Sombra_!" Celestia ordered the corps lieutenant. He nodded and walked about the corps, barking out orders.

"What shall we do, sister?" Luna asked, scanning the castle with a careful eye. "We certainly can't leave the corps to do the job themselves."

"Of course not." Celestia was studying the castle as well, but not generally as Luna did. Her eyes sought other things, while Luna's scanned for dimensions, alternate entrances.

"I think…do you see those French doors by the right side? Amaris told me something about her rooms being on the west side of the castle. Let's hope Sombra doesn't know this."

"I shouldn't think so…Amaris wouldn't just be in her room if he was at the castle's doors, would she?" Luna asked.

"No," Celestia said determinedly. "It's a feeble option, but it's our only one. Let's go." She spread her wings and lifted off.

The castle was quiet. _Too_ quiet. The same questions circled around in Celestia's mind. Where was her family? Where were the crystal citizens? Where was Sombra? What was he planning?

The two sisters landed on the small balcony on the side of the castle. "It's too quiet," Luna whispered, echoing Celestia's thoughts as her sister studied the French doors carefully. The light blue silk secured to the glass to give Amaris privacy didn't cover all of the window on the doors. There were little bits of uncovered glass on the sides of the silk, and Celestia could peek through it.

It was dark inside the room. Celestia could not see anypony in there, but she had to be cautious. Sombra could have laid a trap for them.

Luna tried the door, which swung open easily…almost _too_ easily. "Why isn't it locked?" she whispered fearfully.

"I don't know. Maybe Amaris left it open for us?" Celestia peeked cautiously into the darkened room.

Quiet. She couldn't see anypony hiding anywhere, even when her eyes had adjusted to the dim light. She held her golden spear close to her body.

She stepped into the room, Luna following close behind. Nothing had happened.

"I don't think he even knows about this room," Luna said. "It doesn't seem like he set a trap."

Celestia closed the doors behind the sisters. Nothing.

"I…I'm scared, Tia," Luna said, staying so close to her sister she almost pressed up against her.

"Don't be," Celestia whispered consolingly. "It'll be okay. He knows we're here, but he'll be preoccupied with our corps. Our job is to find our family and their subjects, and get them out." She tiptoed towards the door and softly pressed her ear to the door. To her terror, she heard voices and the soft clopping of hooves.

"He'll know if we leave the castle," said the frightened voice. "We have to stay—the Equestrian corps are here. They'll liberate us—we just have to stay away from the throne room, and he won't know." Celestia heard a heavy metal clanking.

"I only wish he hadn't put chains on us," another voice said sadly. "They make so much noise." Clank, clank.

"I wish he hadn't enslaved us at all!" The first pony's voice had risen. "Just thinking about him makes me angry. I KNEW there was something off about him."

"He's so scary," whispered the second voice. "But the Equestrian corps will save us, right?"

"That's what they're here for," said the first pony snobbishly. "And where is their precious Princess Celestia? Cowering back in her pretty palace in Canterlot, is she?"

A gasp. "Don't _say_ that! What if it gets back to her?"

A snort. "Nopony's around. Who would tell her?"

Luna growled, teeth grit. "We could just pop out—" she pleaded with her sister.

"Shh. We'll wait till they're gone. They're not my subjects," Celestia said.

"But—" Luna protested.

"Shh!" Celestia hissed loudly. "Qui-ut!"

"—be disrespecting our neighboring country's monarch," said the second pony. "You'll pay for that."

"Oh, yes, they will," Luna vowed. Celestia elbowed her.

"Whatever. Let's just find a place to hide." The ponies' hoofsteps faded away.

"I'll find that pony if it's the last thing I do," Luna said. "Please just let me tell Amaris? Such disrespect is unacceptable."

"Fine, fine. I know you won't let it go if I don't let you," Celestia said. Luna squee'd excitedly. She loved bringing the law down on citizens, even if no such laws existed. Celestia had come off it a little: she felt her citizens deserved mercy if things were only minor. And she wasn't going to insist that _Amaris_'s citizens respect _her_.

When Celestia was sure the two ponies had gone, she stepped out into the hallway carefully. It was deserted. She turned back and gestured to her sister.

"Come, let's go. Which direction do you think those two came from?" Celestia whispered.

"From the west," Luna whispered, making a gesture to the left. Celestia nodded.

"Let's go," she whispered. "And stay close to me. We don't know what he can do yet."

The sisters were quiet for a few more moments. "He must be keeping them in the throne room," Luna whispered as she realized which direction they were heading in. Celestia nodded.

Suddenly a loud _bang_ echoed and shook the castle around them. "The corps have broken in," Luna yelled over the noise of collapsing debris.

"Sounds like it's just the door, though. The castle should be stable," Celestia said. "Come on, let's hurry it up. We should join the corps." She stopped sneaking and began to canter.

They were just about to round the corner to encounter the doors to the throne room when a massive shout shook the foundations of the castle. "_Enough!"_ roared a very familiar voice, accompanied by sounds of very frightening thudding.

"Som—!" Luna was cut off by her sister's hoof over her mouth.

_He can hear us,_ Celestia's eyes said. Luna nodded.

"Celestia! Luna! Show yourselves! Or are you two only cowards?" Luna struggled against her sister at the last sentence, her eyes flashing.

"I have defeated your puny minions! They are nothing compared to me!" yelled the voice, magnified what seemed to be several times.

Celestia felt the blood drain from her face as Luna confirmed her worst fears.

"Those thumps were the corps."

"Oh no…" Celestia whispered. Then her face hardened. "Let's get in there and kick—"

The words were hardly out of her mouth when her sister pulled away and rushed right into the throne room. Celestia followed close behind.

To her horror, she was greeted with a scene of chaos. Sombra stood in front of the Crystal Throne. To the side were four groups of jagged black crystal, and in between Celestia thought she could hear the desperate cries of her crystal family.

To the side, all of the crystal ponies were in chains, their heads and eyes drooping. Worse of all, something was wrong with their coats and manes. They were no longer beautiful, crystally, and on top of it all, black iron chains bound their hooves and necks together.

But what really drove Celestia off the edge was her poor corps. They littered the ground, thankfully still alive and stirring, but their broken forms both broke Celestia's heart and hardened it.

She turned furiously to Sombra and was almost taken aback by how much he had changed. Gone was the timid earth stallion who had turned up at the castle's doorstep. [A's N: Remember, this is more of Equestria's "medieval" era, so it was still not that unthinkable to go to the castle for shelter if you weren't a peasant. At least that's the excuse I'm going with ]

His eyes were a feral red, with _green_ scleras. His neck and chest were armored in grey metal, and he wore a red cape edged with white-and-black speckled fur. A metal crown-like circlet with red horns adorned his head, along with…

_A red horn…_

It was an unnatural red color, smooth and tempered, perfect like no other horn Celestia had seen.

_He's made himself a unicorn…_


	32. Chapter 32

Hey guys,

So I started this story when I had lots of spare free time on my hands and very little understanding of MLP. I didn't realize that the IDW comics had given us (far superior) explanations for the origins of villains (still waiting on that Discord one though), and I was a pretty poor writer beginning this. So I don't think I'll be continuing Tale of a Princess Grand and leaving it at 31 chapters. It's been a good one, guys. I realize I've now ended all of my MLP series, but don't worry. I've got a Doctor and Derpy sequel in the works that I'll be fine-tuning over Thanksgiving break. I've also got two Hetalia fanfictions, one on DeviantArt and one here, that I'm really overlooking. School's pretty rough, especially since I'm taking above-Honors classes. Stick with me guys, and hopefully I'll be able to get our new Derpy and Doctor adventure out. Hopefully with better storylines and writing because BLEUGH WHAT WAS I THINKING WITH THAT MYSTERIOUS ASH STORYLINE. Ugh I wish I could just toss everything out and start over. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed reading Tale of a Princess Grand, and I am so grateful to you guys for your reviews and favorites. Bucca out!

EDIT: I might actually completely rewrite this story, I really love it's premise as Celestia is my favorite princess :) But I have a lot of stories to work on this Thanksgiving break, so I probably won't be doing a mass rewrite until summer, as my other breaks will likely be used up too. I'll try my very best!


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